OTTAWA, ON, May 12, 2000 - A news story carried by the Canadian Press and CBC criticized Veterans Affairs Canada for requiring ex-servicemen to obtain a prescription from an urologist before approving payment of Viagra for veterans.

Cliff Chadderton, head of The War Amps, stated today that the handling of the Viagra situation by bureaucrats of Veterans Affairs should be examined by the Auditor General, as an example of what he termed "expensive over-zealousy."

He stated that his organization had sent a request to Veterans Affairs Minister Fred Mifflin in June of 1999 asking that consideration be given for payment of Viagra in what he termed the "very special circumstances" of aging amputees who required the drug due to the physical challenges of intercourse based on the loss of a limb or limbs.

"This would be a decision which any competent DVA official could make on the basis of the man's long-term disability of amputation," Chadderton stated, indicating that yesterday's press reports represented an obvious attempt to thwart the intent of The War Amps resolution on the matter.

"First, the pencil pushers in Veterans Affairs expanded the proposal to include veterans who do not have the obvious disability of amputation. Then, to further ingratiate themselves with their political masters, they added in the requirement that an amputee see an urologist," Chadderton said.

"They must be completely out of touch with the medical profession in ignoring common knowledge that medical specialists in the urology field have a backlog estimated at at least three months. Moreover, the seemingly generous gesture by the department ignored the fact that Provincial Health Plans will not pay for consultations for Viagra," Chadderton said.

According to the documents obtained through Access to Information, the VAC officials produced a 1,000-page dossier suggesting that Viagra for some 44,000 Canadian veterans would cost some $32 million.

The War Amps official suggested that the expensive study by government officials must have been undertaken to present the most costly scenario possible, by adding in veterans groups who do not have the same physical problems, generally known as loss of body image, as amputees.

"The only veterans organization which made an official submission for Viagra was The War Amps. We were not suggesting that other veterans should be denied the drug. Our request was based on the well-documented knowledge that amputation can seriously affect sexuality," Chadderton explained. He quoted his own experience, stating that his urologist was "not happy to be wasting his time to write a prescription which normally could be done by a general practitioner."

"When I showed him the Veterans Affairs directive, he showed his disdain for the Government policy by providing a prescription with 98 refills," Chadderton continued.

Chadderton said that at his rate of usage, this would be enough to carry him through until he was 110 years of age.