A MEDICAL expert today revealed that patients were already queuing up for the wonder drug Viagra - even though it has not yet been licensed.

And consultant physician Bob Wilkinson also warned impotence sufferers, "Viagra may not work for you".

Mr Wilkinson, who has run an erectile dysfunction clinic at Blackburn Royal Infirmary for 10 years, said GPs had already referred patients to him for the pills.

Viagra, which is already widely available in the USA, is expected to become available in the UK during the autumn after it receives a European licence.

But East Lancashire Health Authority, GPs and hospital doctors are uncertain who will foot the bill for the drug and who will prescribe it. Mr Wilkinson, who specialises in endocrinology and diabetes, said he believed that Viagra pills, which are expected to cost about £8 each, should be made available by private prescription.

He said prescribing Viagra by private prescription would reduce the financial burden to the NHS and prevent a black market developing where people acquiring pills then sold them on.

"There is already a 12-month waiting list for my clinic. I couldn't possibly see every man that wants Viagra and then provide them repeat prescriptions," he added.

He said Viagra would be a major medical advancement which would help many East Lancashire people who suffer impotence problems.

But he warned: "It will not work for everybody and there might be a lot of disappointed patients.

"It is a medical advance, but the manufacturer's own advert for the drug says it will not work for everybody.

"It says it will improve erections for up to 88 per cent of people and for two thirds of that 88 per cent, intercourse will become possible.

"If people come to me saying they cannot perform sexually, there is no test I can do to prove that.

"So there would be no way of knowing if a person was getting hold of Viagra simply to enhance their own sexual prowess."

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