HSE spend on erectile dysfunction drugs up 8% to €6.3m

The HSE spent €6.3m on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs in 2010 — an increase of 8% of the year before.

A senior member of the HSE West Forum said the spend on Viagra could “no longer be justified” in the current climate.

Cllr Brian Meaney (Green) was commenting on figures from the HSE confirming that the spend on erectile dysfunction drugs through the medical card system increased by almost €500,000 between 2010 and 2009.

The HSE confirmed it spent €6.3m in 2010: €5.47m on the drugs with an additional €809,861 in “fee costs” and €31,302 in VAT costs.

The spend of €5.47m is enough to buy 182,355 doses of four tablets per month, or 729,422 tablets a year.

Cllr Meaney said the HSE could no longer justify such an outlay at a time when it was shutting down nursing homes.

“I do accept that there may be cases where there are sound medical, emotional and social reasons why this medication has to be provided by the State to couples that are unable to pay themselves,” he said.

“But where we have a health service that is shutting down nursing homes, reducing the opening hours of acute hospitals and slashing a long list of essential services, the €6.3m spent on erectile dysfunction drugs cannot continue.”

He said a stricter attitude needed to be adopted to determine eligibility for State-sponsored Viagra.

“Everyone needs to make sacrifices in the current climate and a halving of the monthly dose would not be unreasonable. This would have a major impact on the cost of these drugs to the taxpayer.”

In response, the HSE said an expert group to the Department of Health on erectile dysfunction drugs advised the maximum number of tablets to be four per month on the medical card and community drugs scheme.

It said the recommendation was made “to ensure availability for genuine need, but to reduce the possibility of inappropriate usage”.