VIAGRA TAKERS END UP STIFFS Sex pill linked to 19 deaths
SEX pill Viagra has been linked to a record number of deaths in the UK.
A total of 19 fatal cases allegedly linked to Viagra, or the generic version sildenafil, were recorded last year.
It is the highest number of fatal cases linked to the medication for any year since 2000.
And it is higher than the total number of deaths linked to the medication in the previous five years.
The results predate a change in the laws around the drug which mean it can now be obtained over the counter.
One reason for the law being relaxed was because so many men were buying the drug on dodgy internet sites.
It was also linked to 159 separate cases where people thought it could have triggered a side-effect – the highest total for more than 15 years.
Among the alleged side-effects were one man who said it made him confused and another who linked it to their insomnia.
One complained of suffering blisters, another said he suffered memory loss and one man claimed it caused a speech disorder.
There were a total of eight people where heart problems were recorded as potential side-effects, including one where the person suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
A huge database now contains more than 1,000 reports detailing more than
2,000 suspected side-effects. Sildenafil, which is the active ingredient in Viagra, is prescribed more than 1million times every year.
Users have also claimed it triggered toothache, piles and double vision.
Records show the majority of alleged side-effects were suffered by men aged in their 50s and 60s.
A spokesman for drugs giant Pfizer, which makes Viagra, said: “Patient safety is, and will always be, Pfizer’s utmost priority.
“We work with regulatory authorities around the world to continuously evaluate and monitor safety for each and every Pfizer medicine through ongoing clinical research, analysis and surveillance.
“Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is an important treatment option for men with erectile dysfunction, a medical condition that is estimated to affect up to 21% of men – equivalent to 4.3m men in the UK.
“Viagra has a well-established efficacy and tolerability profile. From its introduction in 1998 to 2016, over
64m men worldwide were treated with sildenafil citrate.
“The safety profile of sildenafil citrate is based on over 9,570 patients in 74 double blind placebo-controlled clinical studies as well as postmarketing surveillance that has been gathered over 10 years.”