LIMERICK CITY and county has the highest public spend on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs in the HSE West area, according to new figures.

The spend on erectile dysfunction drugs has increased by 13 per cent in the HSE West area that stretches from Donegal to Limerick in 2010. The figures show that patients through the medical card system spent €1.42 million – a rise of €167,00 on the €1.2 million spent on the drugs in 2009.

Public patients are restricted to purchasing four Viagra-type tablets per month by the HSE.

The figures show that the highest proportion of recipients of the drugs were aged in the 55 to 64 category, accounting for 29 per cent or €412,834 of the spend in 2010. The figures also show that there has been a percentage increase in the spend by those over 75 purchasing Viagra, accounting for 10 per cent, or €145,841, compared to a 7 per cent share in 2008.

The figures show that Viagra and Cialis are the market leaders and both drugs regularly feature on the HSE’s top 100 most commonly dispensed drugs. The figures show that the spend on the erectile dysfunction drugs in Limerick represents 22.8 per cent of the amount spent on the drugs in the HSE West Area.

Moreover, 19.6 per cent of the spend on erectile dysfunction drugs was in Co Galway, 14.8 per cent in Co Donegal, 11.7 per cent in Co Mayo, 10 per cent in Co Clare, 7.6 per cent in Sligo/Leitrim and 6 per cent in Roscommon.

Last night, senior member with the HSE West Forum, Cllr Brian Meaney said that the HSE should halve the monthly dosage to save money.

The HSE has said Viagra is also prescribed for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, that it is not possible to quantify how much of the expenditure on medications on the information provided is for treating erectile dysfunction or Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension or other conditions.