FirstMed Consulting Blog

Doses of Viagra, the wonder drug which restores potency to men with erection problems, are being subsidised by the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

More than 4000 physically or psychologically injured veterans from wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq are entitled to take advantage of the 1998 decision to list Viagra on the repat PBS.

The RPBS subsidies cost the Veterans’ Affairs Department $1 million a year.

Viagra is not listed on the standard Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which applies to other Australians.

Former soldiers with physical or mental damage such as post-traumatic stress disorder have to have a doctor’s approval for the subsidy.

They also have to prove their erection problems are a result of their wartime service.

But they pay only a fraction of the price of up to $100 for a box of four tablets, depending on the pharmacy.

Typically it costs them only $4.70, the standard fee under the RPBS, with the Government paying about $70.

Ron Coxon, the national president of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association, said plenty of veterans used Viagra, although not all were entitled to it under the scheme.

Ex-soldiers had to have post-traumatic disorder or a physical disability to be entitled, and those with a heart condition could not usually take it.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Bruce Billson said yesterday: “I’m delighted we do it and I strongly endorse it.”

The total annual cost of supplying Viagra was about $1 million, he said.

Via: The Courier Mail