The British government may face a multi-million-pound damages claim over the anti-impotence drug Viagra after its original decision to restrict NHS supplies of the drug was ruled unlawful by the High Court yesterday. Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, is considering suing the government for loss of profits. It may also mount a legal challenge to the current prescribing restrictions, which limit the drug to just 17 per cent of impotence sufferers.
The High Court ruling could lead to other drug companies which have had their treatments restricted on the NHS also mounting challenges to the government.
Mr Justice Collins ruled that interim guidance to GPs by the Health Secretary, Mr Frank Dobson, not to prescribe Viagra when it was first licensed in the UK last September broke domestic and European law.
He said Mr Dobson had unlawfully interfered with a GP's ethical and contractual duty to exercise professional judgment on whether patients should receive the drug.
The judge gave Pfizer leave to pursue a damages claim for loss of profit from the time the health service circular containing the guidance was sent out.