From the Globe and Mail:
Pfizer Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are teaming up to fight the slew of spam e-mails hawking Viagra that invade consumers' computers.
The companies said Thursday they had filed a total of 17 lawsuits against defendants involved in the sale and distribution of the blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug.
Microsoft, the Redmond, Wash., software giant, has targeted spammers before, but this is the first time the company has joined forces with a nontechnology firm.
As many as one in every four spam e-mails advertise Viagra, Microsoft and Pfizer said.
Consumers often mistakenly think the e-mails are sent by New York-based Pfizer and that the drugs they order through these on-line pharmacies are legitimate, said Beth Levine, Pfizer's general counsel for U.S. pharmaceuticals. ...more
Showing posts with label Viagra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viagra. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
B.C. residents shell out $25M for Viagra in 2008
From the Calgary Herald:
B.C. residents spend 25 per cent less per capita on medicine than the rest of Canada — except when it comes to prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction.
A new University of B.C. report on prescription drug spending does not explain whether the greater use of drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra is due to a higher proportion of men in B.C.
Experts say it might have to do with cultural factors — the drugs are used "recreationally" in the homosexual community.
"We know they are used in the gay community as performance-enhancing drugs, so that's a theory to explain the higher spending here, but I have no data to back that up," said Alan Cassels, a drug policy researcher at the University of Victoria.
Commenting on the findings in the Canadian Rx Atlas by the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Cassels said B.C. doctors "tend to be more conservative when prescribing drugs, but maybe not when it comes to Viagra." ...more
B.C. residents spend 25 per cent less per capita on medicine than the rest of Canada — except when it comes to prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction.
A new University of B.C. report on prescription drug spending does not explain whether the greater use of drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra is due to a higher proportion of men in B.C.
Experts say it might have to do with cultural factors — the drugs are used "recreationally" in the homosexual community.
"We know they are used in the gay community as performance-enhancing drugs, so that's a theory to explain the higher spending here, but I have no data to back that up," said Alan Cassels, a drug policy researcher at the University of Victoria.
Commenting on the findings in the Canadian Rx Atlas by the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Cassels said B.C. doctors "tend to be more conservative when prescribing drugs, but maybe not when it comes to Viagra." ...more
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Drug marketers try to cut through the wombleminki
From the Globe and Mail:
In the dubious privacy of a bowling club, two balding, grey-haired men are talking about sex. Their eyebrows raised, their bellies pulling slightly at the fabric of their maroon team shirts, one tells the other how pharmaceuticals have helped him in the bedroom.
“Viagra spanglechuff,” he says gleefully, chuckling with self-satisfaction. “Dip minky Viagra”
That's the 2007 campaign by Toronto-based ad agency Taxi for the infamous little blue pill. The gibberish is a more creative way of masking content that wouldn't make it onto the airwaves otherwise. But the offending language isn't the sordid details of elderly sex lives – it's the description of what Viagra actually does.
In Canada, prescription drug advertising is strictly regulated, and this kind of regulation, it seems, is on everyone's lips these days. New developments in the advertising laws have called into question how marketing should be legislated in this country.
The creatives at Taxi had to develop “the international language of Viagra” because in Canada, the English language wouldn't do. Ads can state the name of the drug, but Health Canada does not allow them to say what it's for. This kind of direct-to-consumer drug advertising is allowed stateside, however, and one Canadian company took notice. ...more
In the dubious privacy of a bowling club, two balding, grey-haired men are talking about sex. Their eyebrows raised, their bellies pulling slightly at the fabric of their maroon team shirts, one tells the other how pharmaceuticals have helped him in the bedroom.
“Viagra spanglechuff,” he says gleefully, chuckling with self-satisfaction. “Dip minky Viagra”
That's the 2007 campaign by Toronto-based ad agency Taxi for the infamous little blue pill. The gibberish is a more creative way of masking content that wouldn't make it onto the airwaves otherwise. But the offending language isn't the sordid details of elderly sex lives – it's the description of what Viagra actually does.
In Canada, prescription drug advertising is strictly regulated, and this kind of regulation, it seems, is on everyone's lips these days. New developments in the advertising laws have called into question how marketing should be legislated in this country.
The creatives at Taxi had to develop “the international language of Viagra” because in Canada, the English language wouldn't do. Ads can state the name of the drug, but Health Canada does not allow them to say what it's for. This kind of direct-to-consumer drug advertising is allowed stateside, however, and one Canadian company took notice. ...more
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The hardest working pill on the market
From Canada.com:
For the past decade, erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis have sent men marching into bedrooms all over the world with renewed confidence and vigour.
Now, there seems to be another good reason to appreciate them -- they may help to save some of the planet's endangered animal species.
Evidence is mounting that men who used to rely on concoctions such as tiger penis soup and powdered rhinoceros horn are finding the convenient and fast-acting pills a good alternative.
One landmark study, done in 2004 by Australian researchers led by William von Hippel, involved 256 Chinese men, aged 50 to 76 years. All were receiving treatment at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Hong Kong.
The scientists found these consumers reported selectively switching to Western medicines to treat erectile dysfunction or ED, but not to treat other health ailments, such as gout and arthritis. ...more
For the past decade, erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis have sent men marching into bedrooms all over the world with renewed confidence and vigour.
Now, there seems to be another good reason to appreciate them -- they may help to save some of the planet's endangered animal species.
Evidence is mounting that men who used to rely on concoctions such as tiger penis soup and powdered rhinoceros horn are finding the convenient and fast-acting pills a good alternative.
One landmark study, done in 2004 by Australian researchers led by William von Hippel, involved 256 Chinese men, aged 50 to 76 years. All were receiving treatment at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Hong Kong.
The scientists found these consumers reported selectively switching to Western medicines to treat erectile dysfunction or ED, but not to treat other health ailments, such as gout and arthritis. ...more
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pfizer pulls E.U. application to sell Viagra over the counter
Changing Viagra to OTC status has to be years away at least, but wouldn't it be a fascinating counseling challenge for the pharmacist in the local drugstore?
From MarketWatch:
Pfizer said it still thinks that Viagra at a 50-milligram dose is a suitable candidate for non-prescription supply through pharmacists.
But it's withdrawn its application after the European Medicines Agency's Medicinal Products for Human Use said it had some concerns.
"The withdrawal of the application will enable evaluation of further information and additional data that may be required to allow any future assessments under the centralized procedure," Pfizer said. ...more
Monday, September 29, 2008
Chinese aphrodisiac may outperform blockbuster drug
From the Vancouver Sun:
Italian researchers are testing a promising alternative to Viagra that they're calling 3,7-bis-(2-hydroxyethyl)-icaritin - or more simply put, "horny goat weed."
In lab experiments, a semi-synthetic derivative of the active compound in Epimedium brevicornum, an ancient Chinese herbal remedy for impotence, performed as well as Viagra but with the potential for fewer side effects, the researchers say.
It's an ironic finding: Health Canada has issued a string of warnings on Chinese herbal products for erectile dysfunction because they contain undeclared sildenafil - the active ingredient in Viagra.
Now, a Chinese aphrodisiac may outperform the blockbuster drug.
The study is scheduled for the Oct. 24 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Natural Products. ...more
Italian researchers are testing a promising alternative to Viagra that they're calling 3,7-bis-(2-hydroxyethyl)-icaritin - or more simply put, "horny goat weed."
In lab experiments, a semi-synthetic derivative of the active compound in Epimedium brevicornum, an ancient Chinese herbal remedy for impotence, performed as well as Viagra but with the potential for fewer side effects, the researchers say.
It's an ironic finding: Health Canada has issued a string of warnings on Chinese herbal products for erectile dysfunction because they contain undeclared sildenafil - the active ingredient in Viagra.
Now, a Chinese aphrodisiac may outperform the blockbuster drug.
The study is scheduled for the Oct. 24 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Natural Products. ...more
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The hardest working pill on the market
From Canada.com:
For the past decade, erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis have sent men marching into bedrooms all over the world with renewed confidence and vigour.
Now, there seems to be another good reason to appreciate them -- they may help to save some of the planet's endangered animal species.
Evidence is mounting that men who used to rely on concoctions such as tiger penis soup and powdered rhinoceros horn are finding the convenient and fast-acting pills a good alternative.
One landmark study, done in 2004 by Australian researchers led by William von Hippel, involved 256 Chinese men, aged 50 to 76 years. All were receiving treatment at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Hong Kong.
The scientists found these consumers reported selectively switching to Western medicines to treat erectile dysfunction or ED, but not to treat other health ailments, such as gout and arthritis. ...more
For the past decade, erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis have sent men marching into bedrooms all over the world with renewed confidence and vigour.
Now, there seems to be another good reason to appreciate them -- they may help to save some of the planet's endangered animal species.
Evidence is mounting that men who used to rely on concoctions such as tiger penis soup and powdered rhinoceros horn are finding the convenient and fast-acting pills a good alternative.
One landmark study, done in 2004 by Australian researchers led by William von Hippel, involved 256 Chinese men, aged 50 to 76 years. All were receiving treatment at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Hong Kong.
The scientists found these consumers reported selectively switching to Western medicines to treat erectile dysfunction or ED, but not to treat other health ailments, such as gout and arthritis. ...more
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Viagra may help heart in muscular dystrophy: study
From Reuters:
A Canadian study involving mice shows that anti-impotence pills might protect the hearts of people with a common form of muscular dystrophy, researchers said on Monday.
Canadian researchers gave sildenafil, the active ingredient in drug maker Pfizer Inc's Viagra, to mice with an animal version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and found that it improved their heart performance.
They said it would be premature to give Viagra to people with the disease, but said the results indicate the drug potentially could be used to prevent or delay heart failure in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. ...more
A Canadian study involving mice shows that anti-impotence pills might protect the hearts of people with a common form of muscular dystrophy, researchers said on Monday.
Canadian researchers gave sildenafil, the active ingredient in drug maker Pfizer Inc's Viagra, to mice with an animal version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and found that it improved their heart performance.
They said it would be premature to give Viagra to people with the disease, but said the results indicate the drug potentially could be used to prevent or delay heart failure in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. ...more
Monday, April 07, 2008
Rated Rx
From the Globe and Mail:
The first time, Allard Gee popped the little blue pill in secret and then slipped into bed. At 59, after a three-year dry spell, he couldn't be sure it was going to work. Better not to start the night with big expectations.
"It was a very unexpected pleasure," giggles his wife, Joyce, taking over the story. "Afterwards, we got up and had a drink and made a toast to good health. Had we known, we would have gone to the doctor sooner."
Ten years ago this month, wine glasses were clinking in bedrooms across North America, as men joined Mr. Gee in hustling to their doctors for a brand-new sex elixir called Viagra — named for "the vigour of Niagara" and promising to get the job done without the dreaded stab of a needle or the drastic step of an implant.
The Gees, who live in the Eastern Ontario village of Gilmour, enjoyed an early supply as part of a clinical trial. Many of their fellow Canadians, forced to wait one more year for Health Canada approval, scampered across the border. In the first six months, American doctors wrote 5.3 million prescriptions for the drug, which works by increasing blood flow to the penis within about an hour of being ingested.
The blue pill rivalled Monica Lewinsky's notorious blue dress as the story of the year for 1998 — and together, arguably, they took the blush off the public discussion of sex once and for all. ...more
The first time, Allard Gee popped the little blue pill in secret and then slipped into bed. At 59, after a three-year dry spell, he couldn't be sure it was going to work. Better not to start the night with big expectations.
"It was a very unexpected pleasure," giggles his wife, Joyce, taking over the story. "Afterwards, we got up and had a drink and made a toast to good health. Had we known, we would have gone to the doctor sooner."
Ten years ago this month, wine glasses were clinking in bedrooms across North America, as men joined Mr. Gee in hustling to their doctors for a brand-new sex elixir called Viagra — named for "the vigour of Niagara" and promising to get the job done without the dreaded stab of a needle or the drastic step of an implant.
The Gees, who live in the Eastern Ontario village of Gilmour, enjoyed an early supply as part of a clinical trial. Many of their fellow Canadians, forced to wait one more year for Health Canada approval, scampered across the border. In the first six months, American doctors wrote 5.3 million prescriptions for the drug, which works by increasing blood flow to the penis within about an hour of being ingested.
The blue pill rivalled Monica Lewinsky's notorious blue dress as the story of the year for 1998 — and together, arguably, they took the blush off the public discussion of sex once and for all. ...more
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