Until now, the sexual enhancer Viagra was available in Austrian pharmacies only by prescription. This could now change. Am 2. Prescription commission meets in February. It decides whether Viagra should be available without a prescription in future.
For over 20 years, men suffering from erectile dysfunction have been able to turn to Viagra. In Great Britain, Norway, Poland and Switzerland, the drug, which is based on the active ingredient sildenafil, is already available without a prescription. Not so in Austria. Here, one must present a doctor’s prescription at the pharmacy for purchase. The reason: dangerous side effects as well as interactions can occur when taking the drug. If Viagra is taken together with a nitrate-containing heart medication, for example, a so-called hypotonic shock can occur. In the worst case, this leads to death.
Erectile dysfunction as an alarm signal
In addition, erectile dysfunction can be a harbinger of a heart attack or stroke. If detected in time, it is possible to take good medical countermeasures. If, on the other hand, the visit to the doctor remains undetected, then in all likelihood the alarm signals also remain undetected, which leads not only to the worsening of erectile dysfunction, but also of its underlying disease. So it seems like all the arguments are in favor of keeping prescription coverage. If it weren’t for the black market, the issue would have been .
Dangerous counterfeits
The development in Great Britain is a good illustration of the problem: There, demand for Viagra and its equivalents nearly tripled between 2006 and 2016. At the same time, the black market and online trade in counterfeit products flourished. "We did a study a few years ago, we looked at 22 products that you can order for free on the internet and found that over 80 percent didn’t have what was stated in them. We had one group, for example, where the dose was four times as high", explains urologist Frank Sommer, President of the German Society for Men and Health, in an interview with "zdf.de". Regular use of such high doses poses a very high risk of heart damage, he says.
Germany retains prescription requirement
The topic of potency difficulties is still heavily shamed. So it’s no wonder that many men prefer buying online to going to the doctor. This trend was countered in the United Kingdom, where the prescription requirement was lifted to give patients safe access to erectile dysfunction drugs without having to see a doctor. This was in 2017. On 25. In January of this year, the topic was finally brought up in Germany as well. Signs were pointing to an end of prescription-only use. However, the expert panel of the BfArM pharmaceutical authority decided in favor of retaining them.
How will Austria decide?
Am 2. February 2022 the prescription requirement commission meets in Austria. Its chairman, the physician Dr. Christoph Baumgartel of AGES and the Federal Office for Safety in Health Care, explains: "As an advisory body, it does not have direct decision-making power, but its recommendation is usually of weight for the deciding authorities." If the prescription requirement for Viagra were actually lifted, the purchase would be tied to a mandatory counseling session including a risk questionnaire. This is to reduce the risk of side effects and interactions. It remains to be seen whether the Commission, after the change of direction in Germany, will now decide to end the prescription requirement in Austria.