VIAGRA NEWS

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Date: 4-Mar-2008

THE number of veterans taking Viagra-type drugs for impotence caused by war service has skyrocketed at the cost of millions of dollars to the taxpayer.

The drugs, which are used to help men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), cost the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme $2.6million last year, an increase of $1million over five years.

The cost has risen every year since subsidies were introduced in 1999.

GPs wrote almost 32,000 prescriptions for Viagra and similar drugs Cialis and Levitra to treat 5000 veterans whose dysfunction was assessed as being service related or caused by war.

War vets with a prescription receive the oral medications at the highly subsidised price of $5 a box. The drugs are not listed on the PBS and cost non-veterans $80 for four tablets.

The Department of Veterans Affairs denied the suggestion that some former servicemen sell the expensive drugs at a profit, creating a black market.

Impotence medicine expert Doug Lording said Vietnam and World War II veterans could suffer from ED due to spinal injuries, post traumatic stress disorder or depression - or the medications that treat these conditions.

Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said the prescriptions allowed these veterans to have a family life despite their physical or mental health disabilities.

"Of a veteran population close to 300,000, 5000 veterans accessing ED medication is reasonable," he said.

At least one-fifth of men over 40 often experience erectile problems and about one in 10 men is completely unable to have an erection, health group Andrology Australia reports.

About one in 10 cases of ED is caused by psychological factors such as depression, psychiatric disorders and relationship problems.

Most impotence is caused by serious illness such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, pelvic surgery, Alzheimer's disease and smoking. ED was an early indicator of heart disease, Associate Professor Lording said.

Impotence Australia chief executive Brett McCann said doctors and patients were more aware of the condition and were more willing to seek treatment.

More than 600,000 non-subsidised scripts were issued last year and Dr Michael Lowy from the Sydney Centre for Men's Health said affordability was an issue for many men.

The medications, which were hailed as revolutionary when they went on sale in 1998, work for about 70 per cent of men.

"They are a very important part in the treatment of ED and, because they are so expensive, it would be nice if it was more accessible to the men who need it," he said.

A Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman said the department has not heard of any on-selling of ED drugs, but action would be taken against anyone found to be guilty.

"We believe that because the drugs are prescribed in small quantities it would make systematic on-selling very difficult," she said.