Rules on Viagra sales still confusing: Pharmacies
Rules on Viagra sales still confusing: Pharmacies
JAKARTA (JP): Many drugstores and pharmacies in Jakarta are
still selling the banned high-dosage Viagra that can cure
erectile dysfunction because they have not been informed about
the requirements for marketing the magic blue pills.
One of the biggest pharmacies in Central Jakarta has sold the
100-milligram Viagra pills for months. A pharmacist, who declined
to be named, claimed unfamiliarity with the government regulation
that only allows 25-milligram and 50-milligram Viagra pills to be
sold in the country.
"We have never had any complaints about the drugs, and most
people prefer the high-dosage pills like the ones we sell," she
said.
She said the dispensary at her workplace sold between one to
two bottles, each containing 30 pills, per month. Each pill sells
for Rp 125,000 (US$18).
Following months of public debate on the controversial sales
of Viagra, believed to be able to cure impotence, the government
allowed PT Pfizer Indonesia Tbk. last Friday to launch U.S.-made
Viagra pills of medium dosage (up to 50 milligrams).
Under government regulation, sales of Viagra must be
restricted to consumers who do not have heart problems. Only
authorized specialists who have undergone a one-day training
course are allowed to prescribe the pills.
Pharmacies selling Viagra are required to report to the local
health ministry's office the names of those ordering the script
and doctors who prescribed the pills.
Another well-known pharmacy in South Jakarta also said it had
never heard of the Viagra launch or been informed about the legal
procedure for Viagra sales.
In downtown Glodok, where people can easily obtain a large
variety of modern and traditional Chinese medicines, Viagra pills
are sold for between Rp 60,000 and Rp 90,000 each.
Most drugstore owners said they were ignorant of the legal
procedure for sales and were unaware that high doses of Viagra
could have unwanted side effects, even impairing the user's
health.
Due to the pill's high cost, most pharmacies sell the pill in
single doses, and seldom give instructions to customers about
possible side effects.
The restriction imposed by the government on sales of high-
dosage Viagra followed foreign media reports last year of deaths
resulting from Viagra use. Last August, a report said random use
of Viagra had claimed the lives of 69 Americans in five months.
Since its April 1997 launch in the United States, Viagra is
now available in more than 70 countries. Several Asian countries
ban Viagra sales for unclear reasons. (04)