Cost of living crisis sees own-brand Viagra! Boots starts selling impotence pills for just £15

Boots has started selling its own-brand Viagra, in a move hailed by doctors amid the cost of living crisis.

The chemist now offers a four-pack of impotence pills for £14.99 — £5 cheaper than the original version.

Both products contain sildenafil, which expands blood vessels and boost blood flow to the genitals.

Boots hopes the move will ‘increase accessibility’ for men struggling with erectile dysfunction as economic pressures ‘continue to rise’. 

Experts today welcomed it as ‘good news’ given the worsening cost of living crisis as it gives men a cheaper over-the-counter option for men.

Everyone in Britain faces a mammoth hit to their budgets, with some of the poorest having to choose between heating and eating. 

The price of filling a typical family car hit £100 for the first time this week, inflation has hit record levels and the average heating bill is expected to increase by around £700 this year.

The chemist now offers a four-pack of impotence pills for £14.99 — £5 cheaper than the famous version. Both products contain exactly the same active ingredient

Marc Donovan OBE, chief pharmacist at Boots, said: ‘Erectile dysfunction is a common condition that affects most men at some point in their lives, and is generally nothing to be worried or embarrassed about’

Most men occasionally struggle to get or keep an erection due to stress, tiredness, anxiety or drinking too much alcohol. 

But up to one in five men in the UK (4.3million) suffer erectile dysfunction — when this keeps happening. 

It can be caused by high blood pressure or cholesterol, hormone problems or side effects from medication. 

Medicines containing sildenafil, originally developed to treat angina, are often used to treat the condition. 

Boots already sells another type of sildenafil for the same cut price, but that is called Liberize.

The new offering is plastered with the chemists’ own logo on the packaging.

Boots Sildenafil, taken an hour before sex, will be available online and at pharmacy counters in more than 1,400 stores.

It does not require a prescription but patients need to undergo an online assessment or have a consultation with a pharmacist in-store. 

A Boots spokesperson said: ‘As the cost-of-living pressure continues to rise, we know that great value and the best prices are more important than ever to our customers.’

They added: ‘We hope this will increase accessibility for men who experience erectile dysfunction in the UK.’

Dr Sarah Martins Da Silva, a senior lecturer in reproductive medicine at the University of Dundee, told MailOnline: ‘This is good news, particularly given the current cost of living crisis. 

‘It can be difficult to talk about problems with sex and seek medical help, so over the counter treatment is a good option for many, assuming they are otherwise well. 

‘It’s great to know that there’s a cheaper option for men experiencing erectile dysfunction.’

Dr Channa Jayasena, head of andrology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, told MailOnline the move is positive one.

Unlike the Pill and menopause drugs, there is a huge stigma around men seeking treatment for reproductive issues despite it being a very common problem, he said.

Marc Donovan, chief pharmacist at Boots, said: ‘Erectile dysfunction is a common condition that affects most men at some point in their lives, and is generally nothing to be worried or embarrassed about.’

Viagra was originally cooked up by Covid vaccine manufacturer Pfizer in 1989, with hopes that sildenafil citrate could treat high blood pressure.

But clinical trials in Wales a few years later saw men report an unusual side effect —they got more erections while taking the medication.

The drug was approved in the US and EU in 1998, branded as Viagra, and became one of the fastest selling drugs of all time.    

The rise and rise of Viagra 

1989

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer cooks up a compound called sildenafil citrate which it hopes will treat high blood pressure.

1993

When it is trialled in Wales, one tester mentions that he got more erections while on it. The others say, ‘So did we!’ It’s a breakthrough moment.

March 1998

The drug – now branded Viagra – is approved in the US as the first pharmaceutical product ever for erectile dysfunction. It quickly becomes one of the fastest-selling drugs of all time, with 10,000 prescriptions being issued a day.

September 1998

Viagra gets its European licence. From July 1999, the NHS starts prescribing Viagra to men with underlying conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or prostate cancer – but Viagra is more widely available by private prescription or from foreign suppliers on the internet.

July 1999

In Sex and the City, man-eater Samantha dates a wealthy older man who pops the blue pills. Viagra later stars in Ally McBeal and Law & Order.

 April 2004

The UK’s first ‘Viagra divorce’ is granted when a middle-aged woman claims the drug made her husband ‘sexually aggressive’.

2007

In England, 1,838,687 prescription items for erectile dysfunction are dispensed.

 Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas

January 2010

Michael Douglas says he’s glad his wife likes older men and praises the drug: ‘Some wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel younger.’ It also gets its own movie: Love & Other Drugs with Jake Gyllenhaal playing a Viagra salesman.

Michael Douglas praises Viagra for ‘making us all feel younger’. ‘God bless her that she likes older guys,’ he says of his wife, the actress Catherine Zeta Jones. ‘And some wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel younger.’

 June 2013

Viagra’s European patent expires, so with the unbranded drug sildenafil available at a 93 per cent price drop, the NHS allows prescriptions for a wider range of cases of male impotence.

 2017

The number of prescription items dispensed for erectile dysfunction has risen to 4,223,282.

March 2018

Viagra becomes legally available to men over 18 via pharmacy websites and over the counter as Viagra Connect.

September 2018

Online health company Zava admits to stockpiling one million Viagra pills in case Brexit disrupts medical supplies.