Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 10, 2002
Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer
The study, published in the journal AIDS, found that the biggest problem with unsafe sex and Viagra use was among gay and bisexual men who showed up at city STD clinics saying they had mixed the drug with ecstasy and other drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine.
Researchers reported that combining Viagra with recreational drugs led to users engaging in risky behavior, such as not using condoms. Also, mixing Viagra with recreational drugs can cause life-threatening reactions, according to researchers.
Of 844 men surveyed at San Francisco health clinics, 57 percent were heterosexual, and 42 percent were gay or bisexual. The median age of the men surveyed was 32, suggesting that the men were using Viagra for recreational rather than medical purposes, according to researchers.
Of the 17 percent of those surveyed who reported using Viagra in the past year, gay and bisexual men were more than four times as likely to have used Viagra than heterosexual men, researchers found.
Forty-three percent of the gay Viagra users surveyed said they combined the drug with ecstasy, and 28 percent mixed it with methamphetamines -- many saying they believed it heightened the sexual experience.
Researchers found a connection between Viagra use and STD transmission among gay men -- 32 percent of Viagra users were diagnosed with an STD, compared with 23 percent of non-Viagra users. The study also found that gay Viagra users had more sexual partners -- 5.4 in the past two months -- versus 3.5 in gay men who hadn't used the drug.
"People should be told to use condoms, and the manufacturer should include that in the label," said the study's co-author, Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of STD prevention and control for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
Klausner has written to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees pharmaceutical labeling, and Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of Viagra, to ask them to provide more specific labeling.
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said Viagra already contains warnings that it does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases.
"That's something people should pay attention to," Cruzan said. Whether the agency will put pressure on Pfizer to make its labeling more specific is unknown, she said.
Pfizer spokesman Geoff Cook said the drug's labeling advises doctors to counsel their patients about practicing safe sex when using the drug.
"The abuse of Viagra is a public health issue that needs to be addressed," Cook said. "Our labeling covers it adequately."
Rick Loftus, 32, a member of Dance Safe-San Francisco, a nonprofit group that provides health and safety information to recreational drug users, said that recreational use of Viagra has come up at his group's meetings and in Internet chat rooms.
"It's certainly on the list of drugs of abuse," said Loftus. "It could potentially create a physical health risk to any men not aware of its side effects. It's particularly dangerous when used with (amyl nitrate). This study creates discussion, and in that sense it can be effective."
E-mail Christopher Heredia at cheredia@sfchronicle.com
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