America's fighting men and military retirees who suffer from sexual dysfunction will get a boost from the Pentagon in fiscal 1999.
Pentagon officials said Friday that they will spend around $50 million to provide the impotence drug Viagra to troops and retirees.
The cost, about the price of 45 Tomahawk cruise missiles, was one of the unexpected military expenses that Pentagon officials say has arisen since they submitted their original 1999 budget request.
Both the House and the Senate have already approved and submitted to President Clinton the $270 billion Defense Authorization Act for 1999.
"Viagra sort of burst on the scene," Pentagon spokesperson Jim Turner told the Associated Press Friday.
Defense Department health officials have reported an overwhelming demand for the drug. If Viagra were given to every solider, sailor, airman and retiree asking for it, officials said the cost could top $100 million.
For now, the military is limiting Viagra to men diagnosed with erectile dysfunction by a doctor. Also, no one is allowed more than six of the $8-$10 pills per month.
Since Viagra was authorized for sale in the United States in March, the drug has been prescribed to more than four million American men, according to its manufacturer, Pfizer Inc.
The Veterans Affairs Department does not require Viagra to be available at all medical centers, because it has the potential to deplete as much as 20 percent of the VA's pharmaceutical budget.
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