€1 million spent on Viagra-like drugs in HSE West

LIMERICK CITY and county has the highest public spend on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs per head of population in the HSE West area.

Figures released by the HSE show that spending on erectile dysfunction drugs topped €1 million through the medical card system for the first time in 2008 in the HSE West area.

HSE West forum member Cllr Brian Meaney (Green) called on the HSE yesterday to reduce the monthly “allowance” on the drugs to public patients.

The figures show that the spend on erectile dysfunction drugs, including Viagra and Cialis, increased by 6 per cent in 2008 in the HSE West area, which stretches from Donegal to Limerick.

A sum of just over €1.021 million was spent on the drugs in 2008 – an increase of €63,771 on the €957,320 expenditure in 2007.

Public patients are restricted to purchasing four Viagra-type tablets per month by the HSE. Each prescription costs about €25, along with a dispensing fee to the chemist.

The figures show that most of the people receiving the drugs were in the 55-64 age category, accounting for 30 per cent or €306,584 of the spend in 2008.

In the breakdown provided, the figures show that those aged in the 65-74 age category accounted for 25 per cent or €258,205 of the spend, while those aged 45-54 accounted for 22 per cent or €226,750.

Viagra and Cialis are the market leaders, with Viagra being the most popular drug accounting for 57.4 per cent of the spend. Both drugs regularly feature on the HSE’s top 100 most commonly dispensed drugs.

The figures show that the spend on the erectile dysfunction drugs in Limerick represents 22.7 per cent of the total spend in the HSE West area despite having only 18 per cent of the region’s males aged over 24, according to 2006 Census figures.

Some 19.9 per cent of the spend on erectile dysfunction drugs was made in Co Galway; 14.8 per cent in Co Donegal; 11.5 per cent in Co Mayo; 10 per cent in Co Clare; 6.5 per cent in Sligo/Leitrim; and 6.2 per cent in Roscommon. An additional 8.4 per cent of overall spend went to the Limerick/East Tipperary area.

The public spend per head of the male population aged over 24 years of age in Limerick was €3.9 compared with €2.7 in Galway and Clare. The per capita spend was €3.1 in Roscommon; €2.8 in Mayo; €2.4 in Co Donegal; and €2.2 in Sligo/Leitrim.

Nationally, the spend on Cialis and Viagra, the two most popular drugs in 2008, increased by 6 per cent from €2.2 million to €2.4 million.

Yesterday, Cllr Meaney said: “Across the HSE West area, the service is facing significant cutbacks this year and I don’t see why patients receiving erectile dysfunction drugs should be immune from that, and a reduction of four tablets to three per month sounds reasonable. That could save the taxpayer €250,000 per annum in the HSE West area.”

The HSE has said that Viagra is also prescribed for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), adding that “it is not possible to quantify how much of the expenditure on medications on the information provided is for treating erectile dysfunction or Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension or other conditions”.