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Nearly 50,000 Irish patients received erectile dysfunction (ED) medications for free on the medical card last year – an increase of nearly 6% over 2016.
The supply of drugs against dysfunction, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, to 47,997 medical card holders, cost the taxpayer about 2.1 M € in 2017, bringing the total amount spending on these drugs under this program in the last eight years.
However, the cost of drugs has dropped significantly in recent years. The Viagra patent expired in June 2013, allowing generalists to prescribe cheaper generic alternatives.
Last March, it was also announced that doctors would no longer be allowed to prescribe Cialis to cardholders. This lasts longer than other erectile dysfunction drugs, but its cost is considerably higher: up to 33 euros per pack, compared with only 8 euros for generic versions.
As a result, the cost of providing drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction to patients holding a medical card has been reduced by more than half compared to the amount of € 4.5 million the previous year.
Records released by the HSE under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Local Health Office (LHO) region, which could have the largest number of medical cardholders who have received medication for emergency, was Dublin North.
In total, 2,400 people were prescribed emergency medicine on the medical map in this region in 2017, an increase of 7 pc over the previous year. This cost the taxpayer € 104,680.
Drug addicts
Dublin North was closely followed by the Cork North Lee Health Zone, where 2,395 patients received erectile dysfunction drugs, a 4% increase over 2016, at a cost of € 112,159.
In 2017, some 2,376 health card holders in Galway were prescribed medications for drugs at a cost of € 103,225, while 2,189 patients used drugs provided under the program in Limerick. for a cost of 101 651 euros.
The LHO area where the number of patients with a medical card was prescribed to the lowest number of patients with a medical card last year was West Cork.
In the region, only 503 people benefited from the drugs provided under the program, at a cost of € 19,752.
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