Pharmacists want Viagra sale without preion

By Kim Rahn

Pharmacists are planning to ask the government to allow the sale of Viagra and Xenical without prescription.

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association said Friday that it plans to demand the government change some prescription medicines into non-prescription ones.

The move came two days after the government unveiled a plan to allow the sale of 44 non-prescription medicines at convenience stores and supermarkets by designating them as “non-drugs.”

“We plan to demand the status of Viagra and Xenical be changed into non-prescription drugs at a policy-setting meeting next Tuesday,” an association official said.

The subcommittee of the Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council, comprised of doctors, pharmacists and officials representing the public, will hold a second policy-setting session next week.

The domestic sale of the erectile dysfunction treatment drug Viagra was 38.7 billion won ($35.5 million) last year, and that of the obesity treatment drug Xenical and similar generic drugs, 13.4 billion won.

The official said some of the obesity treatment medicines are categorized as non-prescription drugs in many foreign countries. The association plans to include some morning-after pills and asthma medicines in their proposal as well.

But the pharmacists’ demands are expected to meet strong opposition as Viagra and Xenical are known to have side effects. The former can cause heart and blood-related diseases and the latter serious liver damage.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration has included Viagra in its list of prescription drugs it fears could be misused, and warned of the possibility that Xenical could cause liver damage.

Meanwhile, the association of pharmacists is strongly protesting the government’s decision of designating the 44 products as non-drugs.