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AIDS Foundation Sues Pfizer Over Viagra Ads

January 23, 2007

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer Inc., the world's largest pharmaceutical company and manufacturer of impotence drug Viagra, over its marketing tactics and advertising.

AHF claims that Pfizer's Viagra advertising "has caused an increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including but not limited to HIV/AIDS."

"Pfizer has engaged in and continues to engage in this conduct despite clear evidence of its illegality and harmful effects," the foundation charged. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

"Pfizer's direct to consumer marketing of Viagra as a drug to enhance sexual performance is primarily aimed at men who don't necessarily suffer from a clinical diagnosis of erectile dysfunction, and we believe it is not only irresponsible, but also illegal, especially in light of the drug's known use as part of a 'circuit party cocktail' of drugs that is fueling the spread of STDs and HIV," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

"We are filing this lawsuit today to seek an injunction against Pfizer to force it to stop advertising this prescription medication in the reckless manner it has been doing," Weinstein said.

Weinstein wants Pfizer to "undertake an immediate public information/education campaign to both inform members of the general public as to its prior advertising practices, and to educate the public, and in particular, men who have sex with men, about the increased risks of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases associated with using Pfizer's Viagra."

A San Francisco public health official, Jeffrey Klausner, MD, said he was "deeply troubled" by Pfizer's advertising.

"As a physician and public health professional who has conducted extensive research on sexual risk behavior and the risk for getting or spreading sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in persons who use Viagra, I am deeply troubled by what I consider to be the continued misleading and potentially 'off-label' direct-to-consumer marketing practices of Pfizer for this drug," said Klausner, who is the director of STD Prevention and Control Services, San Francisco Department of Public Health.

According to Klausner, "several of our studies and those I reviewed for my research showed strong independent associations between the use of Viagra and increased sexual risk behavior, including an increased risk for diseases like syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV infection.

"Pfizer's marketing may go beyond the FDA-approved indications for the drug when they ask, 'Want to improve your sex life?'-- as its current ad campaign does -- and state that the drug is appropriate for, 'mild' erectile dysfunction, and suitable for men with 'all degrees of ED, even if it only happens once in a while.'"

"The promotion of Viagra for what some have called 'recreational use' must be stopped. Why the FDA has not acted on this is unclear to me," Klausner added.

Among the remedies AIDS Healthcare Foundation is seeking in its 'Prayer for Relief' in its lawsuit against Pfizer are:

• An injunction prohibiting Pfizer from pursuing its allegedly unlawful and deceptive marketing of Viagra;

• An injunction requiring Pfizer to undertake an immediate public information/education campaign to (a) inform members of the general public as to its prior practices and (b) educate MSMs about the STD risks associated with using Viagra; and

• An order requiring disgorgement of Pfizer's ill-gotten gains and to pay restitution to AHF of monies it has spent treating people infected with HIV or other STDs as a result of Pfizer's conduct.

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