Latest News

The medical uses of Viagra have, in the last few years, extended far beyond those for which the drug was originally developed. Although most commonly known as an anti-impotence treatment, Viagra has also been used to open the blood vessels in the hearts of premature babies and to increase the blood supply to the brains of Israeli fighter pilots to improve their flight performance.

Pfizer, the manufacturer of Viagra has been reprimanded by the US Food and Drugs Agency over an advert for the erectile dysfunction medication. The advert, which appeared on the interent, featured a group of men singing a song about Viagra in a recording studio.

According to the FDA the video did not set out the risks associated with taking Viagra so therefore breached the law relating to the advertising of prescription drugs in the US. Pfizer has apologised and has withdrawn the advert with immediate effect.

An advertisement for a so called ‘blue pill’ or other unlicensed drugs purporting to have similar properties to their licensed counterparts might seem to gain credibility when advertised in a magazine or on the internet. The successful prosecution of two men, however, has shown that these scams are, at best, to be avoided as a waste of time and money and, at worst, perilous to the purchaser’s health.

All drugs in this country undergo stringent tests. If advertised drugs haven’t been subjected to this rigorous scrutiny then there is absolutely no telling what someone might be putting into their body when buying unlicensed pills from the internet or from the back pages of magazines.

On 7 February 2008, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency successfully prosecuted two men at Bradford Magistrates Court for selling unlicensed medicines. David Tetley a retired man of 61 and Stephen Evans who is 49 and unemployed pleaded guilty to the illegal sale and supply of Kamagra, Kamagra Oral Jelly, Apcalis and Loveagra.

These products, as might be ascertained from their names, purport to give the same results as Viagra or Cialis, even though they are not medically proven to do so.

Tetley and Evans advertised the unlicensed and, therefore, illegal drugs in a gay magazine called ‘Shout’. The MHRA was alerted to the content of advertisement, carried out a test purchase and found the drugs to be unlicensed. The defendants were found guilty and fined £545 each.

Mick Deats, Head of Enforcement and Intelligence says "This successful prosecution highlights the robust action the MHRA takes against anyone, even first time offenders such as Tetley and Evans, who commit offences under medicines legislation".

So while these products might seem appealing due to promises made in advertisements and the fact that they are often cheaper than their medically licensed counterparts, the promises made are unproven, the ingredients are unknown and untested and the medical consequences of taking them potentially dangerous. Perhaps they are not such a bargain after all!

Israeli fighter pilots may soon be given Viagra in order to improve their performance at higher altitudes. The drugs work in treating impotence problems by increasing blood flow by relaxing certain arteries. It has been discovered that this increased blood flow may also help fighter pilots who fly at very high altitudes and in stressful situations

Researchers have found, by studying a group of Israeli doctors who were climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, that tadalafil, the active ingredient in the anti-impotence drug Cialis, helped the climbers to ward off fatigue and dizziness at greater heights. The increased supply of blood to the brain and lungs resulted in an increased amount of oxygen reaching these areas than would have been the case if the drug had not been taken.

A Slough man has been sentenced to 250 hours of community service after he was found guilty of selling fake Viagra and Cialis over the internet using Ebay.  In a sting operation he was caught out by undercover agents from Eli Lilly, the owner of Cialis.  The man, who has been named as Azim Dad, continued to sell the fake medication online while he was under investigation by the Medicines anf Healthcare Regulatory Agency.  Mr Dad's house was raided by police and counterfeit medications with a value of £50,000 were discovered.  This case follows a similar one last week where a registered pharmacist from West London was convicted of importing £200,000 of fake Viagra from Pakistan.

It is very difficult knowing who to trust when buying medication online but we have set out some common sense guidelines on our consumer precautions page.  So long as the website is dispensing from a registered pharmacy then the medications that are supplied should all be genuine.  The drug manufacturers have now put in place a number of safeguards to make it extremenly difficult for counterfeit medications to get into the legitimate supply network.  A number of medications now come via a "direct to pharmacy" route, thereby eliminating the possiblility of fake drugs getting to a genuine pharmacy.

The British Medical Association is urging the Government to allow more Viagra to be prescribed free on the NHS.  Currently GPs can only prescribe a small number to certain men who are suffering from other conditions which may be the underlying cause of their erectile dysfunction such as diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.  The BMA wants to stop men from purchasing fake Viagra over the internet and they see this route as being the most effective way of combating this problem.  At the moment it is reckoned that only 10 % of the 2.3 million men in the UK suffering from erectile dysfunction are currently being treated and some are being tempted by low prices on the internet for fake medication.  As we have said many times before, if the price of the medication seems like a bargain then it is probably fake.  The way to deal with this issue is not to make it free to everyone on the NHS as this is unaffordable and the BMA knows this.  The way to ensure that patients are not given fake medication over the internet is for the regulatory authorities to issue kite marks to genuine clinics operating on the internet.  All legitimate online prescribers would have nothing to fear from such a move and with a public education programme the fraudsters would soon be marginalised!

An article has been published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy by the respected psychology professor, Dr David Rowland, who contends that the success of sexual function drugs such as Viagra has diverted attention away from research into the psychological root causes of sexual dysfunction.  There has been an emphasis on the physical resolution of the basic sexual function of achieving an erection but this only goes some way in mending a damaged relationship.  He uses the example of premature ejaculation, where there has been very little research recently into the potential causes of this type of dysfunction and how effective a combination of traditional erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra with psychotherapy could yield fruitful results.

Although the professor is right in a number of respects, the problem for a number of couples is not that there is some deep rooted problem in the relationship; it is simply that one of the partners is not able to perform for physical, rather than psychological reasons.  Premature ejaculation is another matter and whilst there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that ED treatments can provide assistance in this area, we would tend to agree with the professor that some psychotherapy is likely to be of benefit here.

If any of you are looking for online sexual therapy, have a look at this website - online sex therapist

You might have read in the national press that a number of criminals in London have been jailed for their part in an international conspiracy to supply fake Viagra.  It is apparently the largest ever investigation that the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency has undertaken into the sale and supply of counterfeit medications.

We are glad to see that our regulator is getting tough with these cowboys who are doing so much to damage the reputation of legitimate online healthcare providers.  All UK websites which supply prescription medications are routinely scrutinised by the MHRA to make sure that we comply with all laws and supply genuine medication from registered pharmacies.  We think that the time has come for the MHRA to start some sort of kite mark scheme whereby the legitimate websites are given some sort of endorsement by the regulator.  This is the only way that consumers are going to be able to differentiate between genuine websites run by healthcare professionals and those running a counterfeit racket.  We have provided some helpful tips on our Consumer Precautions page to enable members of the public make the right decision who to approach but a kite mark scheme would go that extra mile and would give consumers confidence about with who they are dealing.

It is 10 years since Viagra was first prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction in the UK and despite the active ingredient (sildenafil) almost never making it as a medicine, it is now turning out to be a bit of a wonder drug with potential new applications being investigated on a continual basis.

Sildenafil was originally developed as a potential treatment for angina but initial trial results were very disappointing.  The drug seemed to have little impact on the condition and there were more effective competitors on the market.  During one of the patient trials, a doctor discovered that along with other side effects such as indigestion and back pain, this new drug allowed previously impotent men to achieve erections!  This was a potentially very exciting breakthrough so it was immediately reported to Pfizer – the drug’s patent holder.  Five years later the drug was approved, not for treating angina but for erectile dysfunction.

Since the launch in 1997, Viagra has been used by an estimated 30 million men worldwide and despite the emergence of competing products, it remains the top choice for men with ED who use the services of The Online Clinic.

Viagra is now being tested for the following applications: relief of jet lag symptoms; treating stroke victims in the immediate recovery phase; helping underweight babies develop in the womb; and treatment of heart failure patients.  We intend to bring you news of these trials as soon as we have some more information, so please come back in the next few weeks to see if there have been any developments.

It would appear that the erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra, has an effect beyond increasing the blood flow to the penis.  A study at the University of Wisconsin has found that the level of oxytocin secreted by the pituitary gland is increased by three times the normal volume when treated with sildenafil (the generic name for Viagra) following neural stimulation.  The study was performed on rats, not human beings, but there is no reason at this stage to assume that the reaction would be any different.

Oxytocin is a hormone that is important in social interaction and has been linked to sexual stimulation.  This is the first time that Viagra has been linked to a physical effect beyond that of dilating certain blood vessels.  Viagra inhibits the production of PDE5 which causes blood vessels to contract, therefore making the penis unable to support an erection viable for penetration in some males.  In the same way, PDE5 inhibits the production of oxytocin so when the PDE5 production is inhibited, the volume of oxytocin produced increases.  Interestingly, there was no oxytocin produced when the pituitary gland was treated with sildenafil in the absence of neural stimulation.

This research opens the way for further studies into additional uses for this highly popular and successful drug.

Boots, the UK pharmacy chain, is to offer Viagra to men aged 30 to 65 without the need for a prescription.  However, don’t get too excited: the scheme only applies to three branches of the company in Manchester and it will not be like popping into the pharmacy for a packet of aspirin!  Anyone wishing to take advantage of the scheme being offered will be required to have a consultation with one of the group’s pharmacists for which they will charge a fee as well as the cost of the medication.  As erectile dysfunction can be a marker for other diseases, quite rightly, Boots will make patients have a blood test to determine if there is an underlying cause that should be treated.  If you want to have repeat prescription, patients will first be required to have a consultation with a private doctor for which a further fee will be levied.  Despite all the headlines in the newspapers, Viagra remains a prescription medication which can only be taken under the direction of a healthcare professional.

If the pilot scheme is successful, Boots may roll it out to other stores.

On 22^nd January 2007 a California clinic that treats AIDS patients issued a lawsuit against the manufacturer of Viagra for “unjust and illegal conduct” in marketing the drug. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has demanded that Pfizer discontinue what it termed “deceptive” advertising practices and begin educating users about the danger of spreading sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS, when using the drug.

In addition, the complaint maintains that Pfizer markets the pills “in a way that associates the drug with sports and excitement” and “as a recreational sexual enhancement drug for younger men.” When used for this purpose, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation also alleged that Viagra encourages gay men to engage in risky sex as it purportedly enables men to overcome the erection inhibiting effects of drugs such as crystal methamphetamine and also alcohol and ecstasy.

Surely this is yet another example of litigation gone mad in America. The plaintiffs clearly have forgotten that Viagra is a prescription only drug in America as well as here in the UK. Any person wishing to purchase genuine Viagra has to go through a doctor, either online or face to face. The lawsuit also suggests that people are stupid and that it is the fault of Viagra that people are having unprotected sex while on illegal drugs. Do they not for one minute think that it might be the mind-bending effects of the crystal meths that cause people to throw caution to the wind and dispense with the normal practice of wearing a condom? To say that it is the fault of Viagra because it allows them to have an erection when the illegal drugs being consumed might otherwise preclude such an event is quite frankly ludicrous!

It appears that Pfizer Inc. is about to apply to the Food and Drugs Agency in the US for Viagra to be sold over the counter at pharmacies without a prescription (OTC.) Pfizer has never before commented publicly on its plans for Viagra, but it is believed that competition from Eli Lilly’s Cialis has forced the company to consider making Viagra more freely available.

Industry analysts have indicated that it is highly unlikely that Viagra will achieve over the counter status as the complications that can arise if combined with other medications can be very serious – even fatal – so it is essential that a doctor makes the judgement whether Viagra is a suitable medication. Patients being treated for heart problems such as angina, for example, may be taking a nitrate based medication which, if taken in combination with Viagra, could cause blood pressure to fall to dangerously low levels.

Viagra was considered for OTC status by the MHRA in the UK a few years ago but this was not approved.