Viagra is Mayo's most commonly prescribed drug

MAYO men have left taxpayers with a stiff bill for erectile dysfunction drugs provided under free schemes by the Health Service Executive (HSE), new figures have revealed, writes Darragh McDonagh.

Nearly €1 million of public money has been spent providing Viagra and similar prescription drugs to medical card holders and other eligible patients in the county since 2009.

The number of people getting erectile dysfunction (ED) pills on the medical card has also risen steadily during this time. Last year, 1,638 patients in Mayo were provided with the drugs under the scheme, representing a 50% increase since 2009. In total, the HSE has spent €990,819 on ED medicines for Mayo patients under public health schemes in the past five years.

Medical card holders covered by the General Medical Services (GMS) scheme account for €880,626 of the total amount, while a further €109,244 was spent on ED drugs for patients under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS). The DPS covers the cost of approved medicines over a threshold of €144 per month for individuals or families.

Ten claimants covered by the Long-Term Illness Scheme, which provides concessions for patients with conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, also received ED drugs at a cost of €947.

Medicines prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction include Viagra, Levitra, Cialis and Sidena. They contain similar active ingredients such as sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil.

Last year, the most commonly prescribed drug under free schemes nationally was sildenafil, which is sold as Viagra and other trade names. Tadalafil, the trade name of which is Cialis, was the next-most commonly prescribed drug.

At least 7,536 prescriptions for ED medications were issued to patients in Mayo who qualified under free health schemes during the past five years. Of these, 6,634 were dispensed under the GMS scheme and 892 were dispensed under the DPS.

Nationally, more than €57 million has been spent on ED pills for patients on free schemes since 2009. Medical card holders accounted for €36.7 million of the total amount, while €15.5 million and €4.8 million was spent through the DPS and LTI schemes, respectively.

Last year, the number of unique patients who were supplied with ED drugs at the expense of the HSE was 41,412