Viagra prescriptions (FOI)

Request

A

How much Viagra has been prescribed in the last four years?

B

How many people have been prescribed it?

C

How many dogs have been prescribed it?

D

How many cats have been prescribed it?

E

How much has Jersey spent on Viagra in the last four years?

Response

Sildenafil is the generic name for Viagra. Prescribers in Jersey cannot prescribe Viagra on a Health Insurance Fund prescription but may prescribe the lower cost generic equivalent, which is around 30-times less expensive than branded Viagra. The average cost of each sildenafil prescription dispensed is approximately £1.50.

A and E

The table below shows the number of prescriptions dispensed for sildenafil each year and their total net cost to the Health Insurance Fund.

B

Information on the number of patients prescribed a specific medicine is not held.

C and D

Pet prescriptions are issued by private veterinarians, therefore, no Viagra has been prescribed to cats and dogs by the Government of Jersey within the last four years.

Articles referenced

Article 3 Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 4 Meaning of “information to be supplied by a public authority”

(1) For the purposes of this Law, the information held by a public authority at the time when a request for the information is received is the information that is to be taken to have been requested.

(2) However, account may be taken of any amendment or deletion made to the information between the time when the request for the information was received and the time when it is supplied if the amendment or deletion would have been made regardless of the request for the information.