{"id":354025,"date":"2018-03-27T03:13:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T02:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/viagra-to-be-sold-over-the-counter-as-drug-company-falls-on-hard-times-rt-uk-news\/"},"modified":"2018-03-27T03:13:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T02:13:00","slug":"viagra-to-be-sold-over-the-counter-as-drug-company-falls-on-hard-times-rt-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/viagra-to-be-sold-over-the-counter-as-drug-company-falls-on-hard-times-rt-uk-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Viagra to be sold over the counter as drug company falls on hard times \u2014 RT UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>        Hard times for Viagra\u2019s producers have led to a decision to sell the iconic blue pills over the counter. For the first time ever the men\u2019s product will be legally available in shops for men struggling with erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pfizer, Viagra\u2019s manufacturer, is struggling itself \u2013with a downward sales trend. While statistics show many men face the problem \u2013 experts say it could be as many as one in five men in Britain \u2013 Pfizer has faced stiff competition from generic manufacturers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arcticle__read-more read-more\">\n<p>Read more<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/312793-female-viagra-fda-approves\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"read-more__cover\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2015.08\/thumbnail\/55d4086cc3618812628b45dd.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9 Hannibal Hanschke\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Pfizer more than a fifth of UK adult males aged over 18 suffer from but few seek treatment. <em>\u201cThere\u2019s a clear unmet need,\u201d<\/em> Paul Rose, the general manager for Pfizer\u2019s UK consumer healthcare division, told the Daily Telegraph. The US giant\u2019s new product Viagra Connect should be give the company a much-needed circulation boost, it is hoped. Global sales were $1.2 billion (\u00a3850 million) last year, down almost half on the $2.1 billion of five years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The over-the-counter product has high hopes pinned on it, as men will no longer need a prescription for the drug. Pfizer has trained thousands of pharmacists on how to consult people interested in buying Viagra Connect. The drug will be available in 14,000 stores across Britain and via pharmacy websites.<\/p>\n<p>The new product could also prove an asset for Pfizer\u2019s consumer healthcare division, which it has trouble selling after both GSK and Reckitt Benckiser pulled out of the $20 billion contest to buy it last week. The decision to sell the product was made last year by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9V_LX3Jy97c\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Mick Foy, the MHRA\u2019s group manager in vigilance and risk management of medicines, said: <em>\u201cErectile dysfunction can be a debilitating condition, so it\u2019s important men feel they have fast access to quality and legitimate care, and do not feel they need to turn to counterfeit online supplies which could have potentially serious side-effects.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Counterfeit or not, all drugs carry a risk of side-effects. Viagra Connect will not be sold to men in certain high-risk groups, notably those with severe cardiovascular disorders.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>If you like this story, share it with a friend!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/422345-viagra-sales-counter-online\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=RSS\">RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hard times for Viagra\u2019s producers have led to a decision to sell the iconic blue pills over the counter. For the first time ever the men\u2019s product will be legally available in shops for men struggling with erectile dysfunction. Pfizer, Viagra\u2019s manufacturer, is struggling itself \u2013with a downward sales trend. While statistics show many men [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":354026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-354025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}