In the future, Viagra can only be bought in pharmacies with a prescription. The responsible expert committee of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) has rejected an application to release the active ingredient sildenafil in a dosage of 25 milligrams from the prescription requirement. This means that a doctor always has to prescribe the pill that can help with erectile dysfunction. Since a huge black market has long since emerged, there has long been discussion about lifting this obligation.
The decision of the committee was made by a majority, as it announced. A reason is usually given later. The experts had already rejected a similar application – that was in January 2022. At that time it was about a double dose of 50 milligrams of sildenafil. The vote of the expert committee for prescription at the BfArM is not legally binding. It goes as a recommendation to the Federal Ministry of Health, which often accepts these assessments.
Viagra was approved 25 years ago. Since it requires a prescription in most countries, there is a large black market. Curbing this is an argument for the release – also because many of the counterfeits offered on the Internet are of poor quality and sometimes even dangerous. They sometimes contain other substances than specified, sometimes they are also contaminated with heavy metals. This risk could also be contained by making it compulsory to buy from a pharmacy instead of requiring a prescription.
In turn, the fact that a doctor weighs up the benefits and risks speaks in favor of a prescription. Because Viagra is also a drug with possible side effects. Sildenafil was originally developed as an antihypertensive drug; It only became clear later that it could also be used to treat erectile dysfunction – and turned into a billion-dollar business for the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. At the same time, urologists like it when men with erectile dysfunction show up in their practices: This could be a harbinger of a heart attack or stroke, says Frank Sommer, President of the German Society for Men and Health. With an examination of the blood vessels, this could sometimes be detected and treated years in advance. However, if the patient does not come to the doctor, this preventive care is no longer available.