Viagra - the new mirror for our society? (Two societies. I report. You figure it out.)

July 17, 2009 ·

Subsidize Viagra to ensure quality of life: Swedish court

Published: 10 Jul 09 18:40 CET

Arguing that having sex is essential to a reasonable quality of life, a Swedish court has ordered local authorities to subsidize a 30-year-man’s prescription for the potency drug Viagra.

The case involves a man from Gothenburg in western Sweden who recently emerged from a 15-year addiction during which he was treated with a medicine that left him impotent, the Göteborgs-Posten (GP) newspaper reports.

The issue of whether or not he was entitled to assistance originally came about because he did not have specific medical advice recommending that he needed to take the potency medication.

The local support unit in the city’s Majorna district originally denied man’s request for assistance to pay for the Viagra, as it is not included on the list of subsidized high-cost medicines.

But following the ruling by the County Administrative Court (Länsrätten), the list will likely be changed.

The court referred a 2005 judgment from the Administrative Court of Appeal (Kammarrätten) in which a sick man was found to be unduly suffering from a lack of sex.

In arguing in favour of the 30-year-old’s request, the court ruled that having sex is considered an essential part of a attaining a reasonable quality of life and that, as a result, people have the right to assistance in paying for potency drugs such as Viagra.

However, the court left unresolved the question of how often a person is entitled to receive the sex pills.

“This is clearly difficult to assess. How often should someone have Viagra? Is it once a week? Does that amount to a reasonable quality of life?” Henrietta Nyberg from the Majorna support unit told GP.

Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20592/20090710/

New Jersey to Seniors: Buy Your Own Viagra

Posted: Thursday, 16 July 2009 9:13AM

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey is telling senior citizens they'll have to pay for their own Viagra from here on.

The Department of Health and Senior Services announced the change in letters sent Wednesday to the 176,000 people enrolled in its two low-cost prescription drug plans for senior citizens.

In addition to impotency drugs, the state will no longer pay for so-called "cosmetic drugs'' that treat obesity or skin conditions. Nor will it cover vitamins or cold medicines.

The changes, effective Aug. 1, apply to two state programs that supplement the Medicare prescription drug plan: Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled and Senior Gold. The state says it targeted the drugs it did because Medicare does not cover them.

The state expects to save $3.3 million this year.

http://www.1010wins.com/New-Jersey-to-Seniors--Buy-Your-Own-Viagra/4815959

The state expects to save $3.3 million this year? That's a rounding error in the Goldman Sachs bonuses for people who should be on death row.