State licensing boards should limit easy online access to Viagra and other drugs which could stir dangerous side effects if taken improperly, says the New England Journal of Medicine.
Widely available on the Internet without a written prescription, Viagra's potential side effects or customer health problem screening often go unaddressed on these Web sites, the journal says, citing a research team headed by Pennsylvania School of Medicine physician Dr. Katrina Armstrong.
Armstrong and her colleagues want state licensing boards to "move quickly to establish and enforce guidelines" for controlling the way doctors and pharmacists dispense Viagra and other drugs online, the journal says.
Convenient acquisition of drugs online may be one thing, especially if they have no or few side effects, but regarding Viagra the Armstrong group tells the journal those advantages will likely be outweighed by a lack of doctor or pharmaceutical evaluation for dosage and potential drug interaction.
The team reviewed 86 Web sites offering to deliver Viagra directly to customers without traditional prescriptions. Nine in a ten-day period disappeared from the Internet, but 45 percent of those that stayed didn't require customers to answer any medical questions to determine if Viagra would be safe or effective for them, the journal says. And only 27 sites posing medical questions stated a doctor would review the questionnaire.
Viagra patients risk dangerously low blood pressure if they are also taking nitrate-type drugs used against heart disease, the journal continues.
