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Viagra is coming 'off-patent'

(13 Posts)
Joan Sat 29-Jun-13 12:07:54

Be afraid....be very afraid!

And, as Victorian girls were instructed, hang on to the bedpost and think of England, remembering to Queen herself had to do it. Actually, thinking of that, it makes the phrase 'by royal command' have some interesting connotations.

I just remembered summat else. At work a fair few years ago, when we were having a little lunch break party for my 50th birthday, a young lass in her 20s asked me how old I'd been when I gave up sex!!! I told her I'd tell her when I found out. She was most highly shocked. (And I don't think Viagra had been invented then; well, it was never mentioned in Queensland anyway, the State of Australia where even Playboy Magazine was illegal until not long ago)

specki4eyes Fri 28-Jun-13 23:28:47

I often wonder what percentage of women 'of a certain age' experience that heart sink moment when their old fella chooses to start using Viagra. Just when they thought that their duty to massage their men's ego by saying "never mind darling, its not a problem, night night" was a thing of the past, off they go again, thanks, not to raging lust, but to a little blue pill.
One of my friends tells her DH - "our trouble is we did it too much in the past and its now run out!" You have to laugh really.

janeainsworth Mon 24-Jun-13 13:38:17

From a purely academic interest of course.

janeainsworth Mon 24-Jun-13 13:37:36

Well if the fictional account I referred to is based on reality, I don't think there will be a great increase in lying back and thinking of Englsnd wink
If the removal of the patent means that the NHS can provide it more cheaply though, it may mean that the online businesses er, droop, but GPs are inundated with requests from middle-aged men requiring assistance in the bedroom department.
I will await the NICE guidelines with interest smile

nanaej Mon 24-Jun-13 10:56:07

It may be a positive move in that the drug will be available cheaply and safely at pharmacies rather than on dodgy on-line sales! I just hope it won't lead to even more emails offering them to me.

FlicketyB Mon 24-Jun-13 10:30:46

It was recently estimated that at least half the Viagra on sale on line is anything but.

Bags Mon 24-Jun-13 07:44:50

I predict that women will get more headaches.

JessM Mon 24-Jun-13 07:24:31

There is a huge on-line market already jane if the spam is anything to go by. So I think flicketyb raises a valid point (ha ha - the unintended puns are flowing off my finger tips) But if it is to become so cheap ... well do the women of the world welcome a widespread increase in persistent, pharmacolgically induced erections hmm

janeainsworth Mon 24-Jun-13 01:46:57

flickety coming off patent just means that the drug can be manufactured by drug companies other than the one which developed it. They will still have to comply with quality control etc and be subject to the Sale of Goods Act.
For an amusing fictional account of a man in late middle age struggling with the use of Viagra, see Piers Paul Read's The Misogynist smile

FlicketyB Sun 23-Jun-13 23:05:08

Yes, but how will a purchaser know whether it is the real thing and not just an aspirin masquerading as Viagra so that a crook can make a quick profit?

vegasmags Sun 23-Jun-13 11:41:27

Thank heavens this is no longer of the slightest interest to me grin

Elegran Sun 23-Jun-13 11:39:06

Lock up your daughters.

JessM Sun 23-Jun-13 11:14:38

Apparently Pfizer's little blue pills have just come off patent and the price is about to plummet with generic versions coming on the market.
Up to now the drug has been available on and off prescription. This will save the NHS a few quid obviously.
Apparently about £10 a pill and shortly to be something nearer to 10p.
What are the "unintended consequences" of this I am wondering.
www.guardian.co.uk/business/shortcuts/2013/jun/03/viagra-lose-patent-pfizer-generic