The therapeutic benefits of Viagra are having a positive side effect for some of the world's most vulnerable creatures.
According to a report in the Anchorage Daily News, sales of Viagra are eroding the market for endangered animals sold as a remedy for impotence. University of Alaska, Anchorage, assistant professor Frank von Hippel and his brother William have found evidence that the drug is already deflating sales of legal animal products, such as Alaska reindeer antler and believe that other traditional Asian medicines, such as sea cucumbers, have also been displaced by Viagra.
Although other western drugs, such as aspirin, have not reduced demand for traditional medicines, 'impotence is a different sort of problem than, say, fever,' said Frank von Hippel. The brothers published their hypothesis in a letter to Science magazine in 1998, and for the next three years they collected data to support their theory.
Viagra's effect on many species used in traditional medicines cannot be monitored because the trade in those products, such as the eggs of green sea turtles, is illegal. But the sales of three species that can be tracked suggest Viagra has eroded their markets, the von Hippel brothers contend.
Sales of the sex organs of Canadian harp seals and hooded seals have plummeted since Viagra became available 1998, and the cost of a single organ fell from as much as C$100 (€60.7) to $15-20 (€9-12). Similarly, Western Alaska's reindeer antler industry also took a post-Viagra hit, according to the von Hippels.
On the other hand, the faltering Asian economy could be playing a greater role than Viagra in the decline. Tourism has slowed from Korea, Japan and other East Asian countries, and those who do come tend to buy only one or two boxes whereas previously they might have stocked up with 10. Greg Finstad, manager of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' reindeer research programme, agreed that Viagra has probably influenced the reindeer market, but said that Korean import restrictions, transportation and marketing problems were equally to blame in the late 1990s.
Faced with such doubts, Frank von Hippel is continuing with his research. In January 2002, with the help of a grant from Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer Inc, he and his brother surveyed Hong Kong apothecary pharmacists on the prices of various traditional medicines since 1998. The brothers detected a modest decline in the sales of species and products that now compete with the little blue pill.