June 3, 1998. Copyright, 1998, Graphic News. All rights reserved

SEX, DRUGS, AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
By Duncan Mil

LONDON, June 3, Graphic News: Even the Church of England is enjoying the benefits of sex and drugs with the world-wide success of the new anti-impotence Ôwonder drugÕ, Viagra.
Shares held by the Church Commissioners Ð who include the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary Ð in the American manufacturers of the drug, Pfizer Inc., have doubled to £2 million since the sex pill went on sale in April.
What may be good luck for the Church of England has turned very bad for 70-year-old Francis Bernardo, a widower and retired New Jersey construction executive.
His partner Roberta Burke, 61, has filed a $2 million lawsuit claiming that Viagra broke up her longtime relationship with Bernardo. She claims her man was impotent until he popped the tiny blue pill on May 1. They had sex for the first time in four years, then two days later he walked out and found a new girl friend, leaving a note boasting of his prowess.
In the first six weeks following U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Viagra, retail pharmacies have dispensed nearly 1.4 million prescriptions at an average price of $72 each. Delighted users include former U.S. presidential candidate Bob Dole, who says itÕs ÔgreatÕ. Pfizer expects Viagra sales to top $600 million in 1998 and $1.2 billion in 1999.
In America a price war has broken out between arch-rival retailers Kmart Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Kmart is selling the drug, which retails for $10 a pill, for $39.99 for a 5-tablet prescription in its 1500 pharmacies. Wal-Mart Ð with 2,329 pharmacies Ð is boasting an Ôeveryday low priceÕ of $38.98 for five pills, the lowest price available anywhere.
Viagra, chemical name sildenafil citrate, works by blocking an enzyme that interferes with blood flow into the penis, enabling a man with Ôerectile dysfunctionÕ to get and maintain a reliable erection. Impotence is a widespread problem that affects 10 percent of men worldwide. It is more common in older men and those who have high blood pressure, diabetes and neurological disorders or who have had surgery for prostate cancer. An estimated 20-30 million American men suffer from some form of erectile sexual dysfunction.
The drug does have side effects Ð six men in the U.S. have died after taking the drug. Pfizer state Ôit appears that these cases were attributed to either cardiovascular events associated with sexual activity in older men or a combination of Viagra and nitratesÉÕ The label clearly warns against mixing Viagra with certain heart medications.
Doctors warn of potential misuse. ÔI and my colleagues have tried out this drug, and the pill decisively improves sexual performance,Õ confirms Professor Hartmut Porst, a Hamburg urologist. ÔErection is harder, quicker and longer lasting. Almost every sexually active man will want to try this drug. Porn stars, in red-light districts, at parties, among swingers. Nobody can stop it,Õ he says. ÔNo pill has ever come onto the market with such potential for abuse.Õ
Some doctors have prescribed an unapproved combination of Viagra with other impotence drugs leading to reports of men with erections that can last for hours. Women have also taken the drug although there is no proof yet the drug has the same beneficial affect on female sexual organs. Pfizer says it is testing this theory.
Although the drug is not due to go on sale in the European Union until late August, it is available in the principalities of Andorra and San Marino.
Andorra, which lies in the Pyrenees mountains on the border between Spain and France, has recently seen a steady stream of visitors from all over Europe who head straight for local pharmacies on arrival hoping to buy the drug over the counter.
In Italy men are pouring into San Marino, near the Adriatic resport of Rimini, for the diamond-shaped blue pills that promise to give their flagging love lives a boost. One man was reported to have flown from Sicily to Rimini, taken a bus to San Marino, made his purchase and then gone straight home.
Men in Saudi Arabia are paying 200 to 300 riyals ($53-$80) a pill on the black market to buy back the elixir of youth and happiness. But drug abusers beware Ð many of the pills smuggled to the United Arab Emirates from Egypt, Britain and Taiwan are red or yellow counterfeits instead of true blue.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press