Egyptian sex drug users ill

A couple at marriage guidance: the demand for Viagra has shown the impact impotence has on people's relationships

Three Egyptian men have been taken to intensive care apparently suffering from side-effects caused by the new impotence "wonder" drug Viagra.

A health minister's statement, reported on the Egyptian news agency MENA, did not give details the health problems the drug caused.

Although not yet approved in Egypt, Viagra is being smuggled into the country and being sold in some pharmacies for 40 Egyptian pounds (about £7) per tablet.

Interest in the new treatment has reached feverish heights around the world.

In many countries, men are breaking the law to get their hands on the pills, despite reports linking the drug with six deaths in the United States.

Investigation underway

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating the deaths of six men who took Viagra, but it is not clear whether any of the deaths were linked with the drug.

The drug's manufacturer Pfizer advised the FDA of the deaths and has issued a warning against what it called inappropriate use of the drug.

The drug's label states that it should not be taken by men who are also taking nitroglycerin or other nitrate drugs prescribed for heart disease.

A spokeswoman from Pfizer said: "We are very concerned that men could be getting hold of the drug on the black market.

"The drug must not be used by people with a history of heart complaints or by anyone taking drugs involving nitrates.

"We suspect that this could be the reason for the deaths in America, which are being investigated."

'Breakthrough' for impotence

Viagra is the first drug to be approved for use in treating impotence.

Pfizer says that more than a million men, most of them middle-aged, have taken the drug.

Men all over the world are going to sometimes extreme lengths to get hold of the "wonder" pill, which is yet to be approved for sale in many countries.

In America, where it is legally sold, the blue diamond shaped pill has become one of the fastest selling drugs in medical history.

But men from other countries are obtaining Viagra by any means, including via the Internet:

• German men are flocking to Switzerland to get hold of the drug. Viagra is unlikely to be licensed for prescription on their own side of the border until the end of the year.
• In Venezuela, a shipment earmarked for university experiments was reportedly stolen to supply the country's black market for the drug.
• Canadians are also crossing the border into the US to have prescriptions filled because Viagra has not been approved for sale in their own country.
• In Poland the impotence cure is being sold on the black market for £50 for a packet of three.
• Israeli doctors are forbidden from prescribing the pill but they are also available on the black market for £20 each.

Banned in Britain

The European Medicines Evaluation Agency has yet to give consent for Viagra to go on sale in Britain.

Before the latest scare, Pfizer had been confident that approval would be granted by the autumn.

Yet the company has voiced concern that British men could be buying the drug on the black market unaware of the risks.

It is believed that supplies of the pills are being smuggled in from across the Atlantic.