Cost of living crisis sees own brand Viagra! Boots starts selling impotence pills for just £15
Boots has started selling its own brand Viagra, in a move hailed by doctors amid the cost of living crisis.
The chemist is now offering a four-pack of impotence pills for £14.99, which is £5 less than the original version.
Both products contain sildenafil, which dilates blood vessels and stimulates blood flow to the genitals.
Boots hopes the move will “increase affordability” for men struggling with erectile dysfunction as economic pressures “continue to mount”.
Experts today greeted it as ‘good news’ given the worsening cost of living crisis, as it offers men a cheaper over-the-counter option for men.
Everyone in Britain is facing a huge impact on their budget, with some of the poorest having to choose between heating and eating.
The price of filling a typical family car hit £100 for the first time this week, inflation has hit record highs and the average heating bill is set to rise by around £700 this year.
The chemist is now offering a four-pack of impotence pills for £14.99 – £5 cheaper than the famous version. Both products contain exactly the same active ingredient
Marc Donovan OBE, Chief Pharmacist at Boots, said: “Erectile dysfunction is a common condition that affects most men at some point in their lives, and there’s usually nothing to worry about or embarrass about. “
Most men sometimes have trouble getting or keeping an erection due to stress, fatigue, anxiety, or excessive alcohol consumption.
But as many as one in five men in the UK (4.3 million) suffer from erectile dysfunction – when it continues.
It can be caused by high blood pressure or cholesterol, hormonal issues, or medication side effects.
Medicines containing sildenafil, originally developed to treat angina pectoris, are often used to treat the condition.
Boots already sells another type of sildenafil for the same discounted price, but it’s called Liberize.
The new offer is pasted with the chemists’ own logo on the packaging.
Boots Sildenafil, taken one hour before sex, will be available online and over pharmacy counters in more than 1,400 stores.
It does not require a prescription, but patients must undergo an online assessment or have a consultation with a pharmacist in store.
A Boots spokesperson said: “As cost of living pressures continue to mount, we know that great value and the best prices are more important than ever to our customers.”
They added: “We hope this will increase accessibility for men with erectile dysfunction in the UK.”
Dr Sarah Martins Da Silva, senior lecturer in reproductive medicine at the University of Dundee, told MailOnline: ‘This is good news, particularly given the current cost of living crisis.
“Talking about sexual problems and seeking medical help can be difficult, so over-the-counter treatment is a good option for many, assuming they are otherwise well.
“It’s great to know that there is a cheaper option for men with erectile dysfunction.”
Dr Channa Jayasena, head of andrology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, told MailOnline the move was positive.
Unlike the pill and menopause medication, there’s a huge stigma around men seeking treatment for reproductive issues, despite it being a very common problem, he said.
Marc Donovan, Head Pharmacist at Boots, said: “Erectile dysfunction is a common condition that affects most men at some point in their lives, and it’s usually nothing to worry about or embarrass about. “
Viagra was originally concocted by Covid vaccine maker Pfizer in 1989, in the hope that sildenafil citrate could treat high blood pressure.
But clinical trials in Wales a few years later saw men report an unusual side effect – they had more erections while taking the drug.
The drug was approved in the United States and the EU in 1998, under the Viagra brand, and became one of the best-selling drugs of all time.
The rise and rise of Viagra
1989
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is making a compound called sildenafil citrate which it hopes will treat high blood pressure.
1993
When tested in Wales, a tester mentions that he had more erections while on it. The others say: “We too! This is a decisive moment.
March 1998
The drug – now branded Viagra – is approved in the United States as the first ever pharmaceutical product for erectile dysfunction. It quickly became one of the best-selling drugs of all time, with 10,000 prescriptions dispensed daily.
September 1998
Viagra obtains its European license. Since July 1999, the NHS has started prescribing Viagra to men with underlying conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or prostate cancer – but Viagra is more widely available by private prescription or from overseas suppliers on the internet .
July 1999
In sex and the city, man-eater Samantha is dating a rich old man who takes the blue pills. Viagra plays later in Ally McBeal and Law and order.
April 2004
The UK’s first ‘viagra divorce’ is granted when a middle-aged woman claims the drug made her husband ‘sexually aggressive’.
2007
In England, 1,838,687 prescription items for erectile dysfunction are dispensed.
Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas
January 2010
Michael Douglas says he’s glad his wife likes older men and praises the drug: “Some wonderful improvements have happened over the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel more youth.” He also gets his own movie: Love and other drugs with Jake Gyllenhaal playing a Viagra salesman.
Michael Douglas praises Viagra for “making us all feel younger”. “God bless her because she likes older men,” he says of his wife, actress Catherine Zeta Jones. “And wonderful improvements have happened over the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel younger.”
June 2013
Viagra’s EU patent is expiring, so with the off-brand drug sildenafil available at a 93% price cut, the NHS is allowing prescriptions for a wider range of male impotence cases.
2017
The number of prescription items dispensed for erectile dysfunction rose to 4,223,282.
March 2018
Viagra is becoming legally available to men over 18 through pharmacy websites and over the counter as Viagra Connect.
September 2018
Online health company Zava admits to stockpiling a million Viagra pills in case Brexit disrupts medical supplies.
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