The AIDS Healthcare Foundation last week announced that it will ban Pfizer sales representatives from its facilities during business hours in response to how the drug maker markets its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, the AP/Forbes reports (AP/Forbes, 2/8).
AHF last month filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Pfizer for allegedly promoting recreational use of Viagra in advertisements. AHF said Pfizer's ads for the drug have increased risky sexual behavior, as well as cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, among men. The suit asks that Pfizer stop running ads that promote Viagra as a lifestyle drug and that the company fund ads promoting awareness about the risks associated with Viagra and STIs. In addition, the suit asks that Pfizer forfeit profits gained from the "misleading" ads and pay for AHF's costs of treating cases of HIV/AIDS and other STIs that it has linked to Viagra. AHF in December 2006 launched an ad campaign against Pfizer because it said the company's ads for Viagra promote recreational use. Pfizer at the time denied that the ads encourage recreational use of the drug and said that its advertising states that the drug does not protect against STIs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/22).
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