Medical website to offer Viagra online

Men will be able to get Viagra online without having to visit their GP, in what a pharmacy claims is the first reputable joint venture with a health website.

Lloydspharmacy and the website DrThom have teamed up to offer the service to men who fill in a questionnaire.

A GP from the DrThom website will analyse the questionnaire and diagnose any erectile problem before issuing an electronic prescription straight to Lloydspharmacy.

Lloydspharmacy will then post the medication to the patient's home.

The service will cover the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, which work by letting more blood flow into the penis when a man gets sexually excited.

Patients will be given a trial course of up to eight tablets at a cost of £45 per four tablets.

They will then be given the option of moving onto ongoing treatment, with the ability to order up to 16 tablets at a time.

By the end of the year, the site hopes to offer a trial pack of all three drugs, so patients can see which one works best for them.

Patients will be able to access medical support from the DrThom website.

The questionnaire asks patients to fill in their height, weight, blood pressure and details of any current prescription drugs.

Other questions include describing level of sexual desire, how often the man gets an erection and how long he has suffered from impotence.

Andy Murdock, pharmacy director of Lloydspharmacy, said the move would help counter the number of fake drugs from overseas being sold on the internet.

He said: "We hope this new service will give men the confidence to use the internet for erectile dysfunction treatments, safe in the knowledge that they will be receiving genuine drugs from a reliable source.

"Many men turn to the internet for erectile dysfunction medication.

"Unfortunately, most online sources are unregulated and patients risk receiving fake medicines which contain little, if any, of the active ingredient.

"In some cases the medicines contain harmful substances which can cause health problems.

"Moreover, some erectile dysfunction drugs lower blood pressure so if they are dispensed to patients whose blood pressure is already low it could be very dangerous. Our service will eliminate this risk."

Not all men can get drugs for erectile dysfunction on the NHS and research suggests only around half of those who suffer do so.

People with conditions such as diabetes, prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis can access treatment on the NHS, and so can those suffering severe distress.

The drugs are known to have side-effects, including lowering or raising blood pressure, headaches and indigestion.

DrThom hit the headlines in June after announcing it would sell the Pill online to women.