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)