High street Viagra sales fuel marketing controversy

Men in the UK are now able to buy Viagra from a pharmacist without a doctor's prescription. But the trial run of this scheme has fanned the flames of a controversy about how US drug company Pfizer markets the impotence drug. 

The US Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in January 2007 against Pfizer for what it claims to be irresponsible advertising of the drug. AHF accuses Pfizer of promoting Viagra as a recreational drug, and holds the company responsible for an increase in transmission of the HIV infection among homosexual men who the drug as part of a 'party cocktail' containing the psychostimulant crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth), an increasingly popular club drug.  

Laura Boudreau, a lawyer for AHF, claims that Pfizer's ad campaigns had significantly contributed to 'risky behaviour' that had caused a jump in HIV transmission in this group of men. AHF's complaint focuses on advertisements featuring young men at parties, with slogans such as 'what are you doing New Year's Eve?' 'Pfizer have deliberately advertised Viagra to consumers as an aphrodisiac,' Boudreau said. Pfizer have released a statement strongly denying AHF's claims regarding their advertising campaigns and reinforcing their commitment to 'safe and appropriate use of Viagra'.  

The spat continued as the high street pharmacy company Boots launched their trial scheme to make Viagra available without a doctor's prescription in three stores in Manchester, on 14 February. Boots' pharmacists will distribute the drug using a document called a patient group direction, which - under a 2003 amendment to the UK Health Standards Act - empowers staff other than doctors to provide the drug legally. Men between the ages of 30 and 65 must have a consultation with a pharmacist, provide a medical history, and have blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose tests, before being able to buy an initial pack of four tablets. Patients must then see a private doctor, provided by Boots, before they can buy more of the pills. According to Boots, this trial is an effort to improve access to treatment for men with erectile dysfunction. The company did not wish to comment on the AHF lawsuit, but a Boots spokesperson pointed out that 14 February is National Impotence Day, and that any link between their launch and Valentine's Day was 'purely coincidental'.  

'Boots has been developing this programme for over two years and we have consulted senior medical personnel, an external panel of medical experts and patient groups,' said Boots medical director Graham Marshall. 'We have developed training and a protocol to enable us to offer this service from our pharmacy.'  

But the AHF has condemned the move - in particular the association with Valentine's Day - as an ill-judged marketing scheme. 'It is irresponsible to be selling this drug over the counter,' said Boudreau. 'It is a drug for a serious medical condition that has side effects and should be prescribed by a doctor. Although this may not directly be Pfizer's campaign, it is yet another promotion of its drug as an aphrodisiac or party drug.' Pfizer has not responded to Chemistry World's inquiries about Boots' sales of Viagra.  

Victoria Gill