1000 GPs sign up to offer of free Viagra supply

More than 1000 New Zealand doctors have signed up to a scheme to receive one free Viagra tablet for every person who makes an appointment with them through the website of the drug's manufacturer, Pfizer.

The scheme, launched last year, tells patients: "Once you have selected a doctor, Pfizer will send the sample directly to them. Naturally the doctor will need to be sure Viagra is right for you and the usual doctor's consultation fee will still apply."

The website lists 361 doctors in the Auckland region, 486 in the rest of the North Island and 271 in the South Island who have so far signed up to the scheme.

Hawkes Bay GP Dr Peter Foley, who chairs the Medical Association's GP Council and has signed up to the scheme, said it did not mean that everyone who made an appointment walked out with a prescription for Viagra.

"They still need to consult the doctor and discuss the issue," he said.

Canterbury University lecturer Annie Potts, who has just published the first results of a $600,000 study on the social effects of Viagra, said the free offer looked like a response to strong new competition from new erection-boosting drugs such as Uprima and Cialis.

"Viagra was the only drug available for men for several years and there was no real competition," she said.

"But with the marketing of these newer drugs, which claim to work differently and have fewer side-effects, it's not surprising they are coming up with marketing schemes like this to boost business."

Pfizer's New Zealand manager, Mark Crotty, said figures on how many men had taken up the free offer were confidential.

"It's been very successful in terms of men uptaking it. It's something for free. These are not cheap medications, so uptake has been very positive," he said.

Pfizer has sold more than 500,000 packs of four Viagra pills in New Zealand since the drug became available in 1998.