Men suffering from impotence will not be able to get Viagra on prescription in Oxfordshire when the new wonderdrug is launched next month.

Oxfordshire Health Authority has written to all GPs in the county telling them that, until the Department of Health has issued guidance on its use and the implications of prescribing the drug have been discussed, they should not give it to their patients.

But Oxford GP Dr Laurence Leaver, of Jericho Health Centre, Walton Street, has criticised the two bodies for not writing to doctors earlier with advice.

He said: "The Government and the health authority have known about it for six months. The makers' shares have had a steep uphill climb since April.

"Patients have been asking for it since March and now, two weeks before it's licensed, we get some guidance that says don't use it until we get some guidance. That's not going to satisfy the patients."

The letter sent out by Dr Elizabeth Tayler, the senior registrar with Oxfordshire Health Authority's department of public health and health policy, said: "There has already been extensive media coverage of the drug but it is unclear as yet what, if any, will be the central guidance on its prescription and use.

"The effects of the launch of the drug upon prescribing budgets and time pressures could be very high. It is clear that there will need to be a very strict control on the use of the drug within the NHS."

It adds: "The health authority suggests that GPs should not prescribe Viagra, or increase their rate of referral to secondary services for erectile dysfunction."

Dr Leaver said other treatments for impotence, including injections, were already licensed but had not captured so much attention as Viagra because they were unpleasant to use.

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