Viagra Gets OK From European Union

Viagra, Pfizer Inc.’s best-selling impotence drug, Tuesday won the blessing of the European Union, which said it can now be prescribed in the EU’s 15 member countries.

The decision, which rubber-stamps earlier endorsements by EU scientific and pharmaceutical experts, will bring to European pharmacists’ shelves the blue pills that have been such a hit in the United States and around the world.

New York-based Pfizer said Viagra will become available in the next two weeks but that launch dates will vary by country. Industry and government officials in some countries said they expect sales to begin in October or November.

National governments will decide individually whether to reimburse patients through their social security systems, although several have already vetoed the idea.

That question stirred controversy in Britain on Monday, when the government announced it had banned doctors from prescribing the drug to National Health Service patients, fearful that heavy demand and high prices would cripple the publicly funded program.

In France, where Viagra is so eagerly awaited that news of its impending approval drove President Clinton off newspaper front pages Tuesday, the drug is expected to go on sale in October, at a cost of about $10 a pill.

French health officials have decided that the government will not cover the cost of the drug. Germany, Italy and Denmark are among other EU countries that have decided to let Viagra users bear the cost.

A spokesman for Austria’s health ministry said the government plans to allow the social security system to cover it.

The pills will be available by prescription to men over 18. A leaflet will be included in all Viagra packages explaining that the drug should not be used by men taking nitrates; those who have recently had a stroke or heart attack; or those who suffer from low blood pressure, heart or liver problems.

While many have eagerly awaited Viagra’s debut in Europe, not everyone was happy. Jean Dutourd, a member of the French Academy language watchdog, told the France-Soir newspaper that the drug marks “a major decline” for French men, who have enjoyed a reputation for not needing such products.