Word: viagra
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...YORK: The honeymoon may be over for Viagra. Diego Padro, 63, has filed the first lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. -- claiming that Viagra gave him a heart attack ?- and at $85 million, it?s a lulu. "He was perfectly healthy, and five days after he started taking Viagra -- bam," said Ronald Benjamin, attorney for Padro and his wife, Maria, Thursday after filing the suit in state Supreme Court against the maker of the impotency treatment drug. "The warning about Viagra to the medical profession is inadequate...
...Most of the heart problems so far associated with Viagra usage have been explained away as the normal result of, well, old men having sex for the first time in a while. But on its surface, Padro?s case seems stronger: His doctor gave him the pills after a checkup that included a cardiogram and treadmill stress test. And Padro says he has no history of heart trouble. The case could be troublesome for both Pfizer and the FDA, which approved Viagra for use regardless...
...curious trend among his country's recent rulers: Octogenarian former president P.W. Botha recently remarried, while the country's last white ruler, F.W. De Klerk, 61, plans to marry his new love once his divorce comes through. Needless to add, South Africa was among the first countries to approve Viagra...
Whether Kaiser's policy will stand is another question. Last week officials from California's department of corporations, which licenses the state's HMOs, announced that they are investigating Kaiser's decision on Viagra. At issue: a state law that requires health plans to cover all treatments that are medically necessary. Believe it or not, there are situations in which Viagra could qualify as a medical necessity. For example, many men refuse medical treatments, such as prostate surgery, for fear they might be rendered impotent. Viagra could allow them to proceed with a life-saving operation without diminishing their quality...
Whichever way the Viagra wars turn out, there is no going back. Gatekeepers and cost controls will always be with us. In the end, each of us is going to have to learn to play the managed-care game. And if we can't get what we need from our health plans, we're going to have to speak up, not just to the nurses and doctors but to our employers as well. After all, they're the ones that picked our plans and pay the premiums. And they're the ones with the financial clout to change the rules...