Experts recommend: Viagra only on prescription
Created: 01/25/2022, 16:41
Viagra should remain prescription-only, experts recommend.
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
She only gives the tablets on prescription - and it should stay that way, a panel of experts from the Bonn Medicines Authority BfArM recommended.
Unanimously.
Bonn - The Viagra active ingredient sildenafil remains prescription-only.
A panel of experts from the Medicines Authority BfArM in Bonn recommended maintaining the prescription requirement for the active ingredient.
The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) published the recommendation on its website.
It states: "The Expert Committee on Prescription Medicines unanimously recommends that the motion for prescription relief for Sildenafil 50 mg for oral use be rejected."
Advantages disadvantages
Experts had previously pointed out the advantages, but also the risks, of releasing the active ingredient.
Prof. Frank Sommer, President of the German Society for Man and Health, said that if it were released, the bottom would be pulled out of the black market on the Internet.
He referred to a study a few years ago, "we examined 22 products that you can order freely on the Internet and found that more than 80 percent didn't contain what was stated".
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The medic also saw some downsides if sildenafil went over-the-counter.
Erectile dysfunction, if it's vascular, heralds a heart attack or stroke, he said.
“We can see that by examining the blood vessels about eight years in advance.
And then you still have time to take appropriate countermeasures.” Another risk: the patient may not have an overview of which medications are incompatible with sildenafil.
The urologist Prof. Christian Wülfing said: "Without a prescription, medical control is completely lost".
In most cases, erectile dysfunction is a symptom of an underlying disease, said the head of urology at the Asklepios Clinic in Hamburg.
An end to the prescription obligation would also eliminate the check-up appointments after the intake.
dpa
