Viagra News (2005)

Pakistan may permit Viagra sales

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (IANS) Concerned at the booming grey market sales of the anti-impotency drug Viagra in Pakistan, a government panel has recommended it be registered and its sale be legalised.

Seven years ago, the authorities had ruled that Viagra sales were "not in public interest".

The new push has come from the Drug Appellate Board at its meeting here Jan 27 chaired by Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood.

Also referred to the Drug Registration Board were appeals from manufacturers of 15 other anti-impotency drugs to permit sales of their products in Pakistan, The News reported Monday.

"The registration board has been directed to weigh the applications of all the 16 companies in line with an earlier case where a private company was allowed to sell a similar category of drug in Pakistan," the newspaper said.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

Trimetazidine best heart drug for the Viagra users

Reuters Health: Monday,February 14,2005

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Trimetazidine, a drug that prevents heart-related chest pain, is a better choice than "nitrate" drugs, such as Nitro-DUR and Isordil, for men with heart disease who are taking Viagra (sildenafil), new research suggests.

There have been concerns about dangerously low blood pressure when Viagra is combined with nitrates, the authors explain, yet many men with heart disease are currently seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction.

As reported in the American Journal of Cardiology, Dr. Giuseppe M.C. Rosano from Cardiovascular Research Unit in Rome, and colleagues compared nitrate therapy with trimetazidine in 38 men with heart disease who were using Viagra.

Trimetazidine seemed to provide better blood flow to the heart during sexual activity than did nitrate therapy, the authors note.

There were no serious side effects with either treatment, the researchers found, though transient headaches were reported by some patients on nitrate therapy and after taking Viagra.

The results suggest that men who've been taking nitrates for a number of years may be able to switch to trimetazidine therapy when Viagra is prescribed for erectile dysfunction, the researchers conclude.

Source: American Journal of Cardiology, February 1, 2005.