Sildenafil citrate (VIAGRA)

The recession might be a little less painful for some Americans, who won’t lose their prescription medications if they lose their jobs.

Pfizer Inc. said Thursday it will give away more than 70 of its most widely prescribed drugs, including Lipitor and Viagra, for up to a year to people who have lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been taking the drug for three months or more. The announcement comes as the unemployment rate topped 8.9 percent in April.

Pfizer stands to benefit, too — by keeping its customers, and with a tax write-off that will cover much of the cost of the donations. The move also buys the world’s largest drugmaker some good will as Washington looks to overhaul the health care system.

“Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there,” Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer’s head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “Our aim is to help people bridge this point.”

The 70-plus drugs covered in the program include several diabetes drugs and some of Pfizer’s top money makers, from cholesterol fighter Lipitor and painkiller Celebrex to fibromyalgia treatment Lyrica and Viagra for impotence. Also included are some antibiotics, antidepressants, heart medications, contraceptives and smoking cessation products. Cheaper generic versions are available for most of the drugs.

The program will likely help prevent patients from switching to cheaper brands or generics through the worst of the recession and could help retain those taking top-seller Lipitor, which will begin competing with generic versions next year.

The giveaway was heralded by some as a brilliant marketing move that will generate low-cost publicity, build consumer loyalty and keep inventory from piling up.

“What are the alternatives? To slow down manufacturing operations?” asked WBB Securities analyst Steve Brozak. “This is going to go down as a Harvard Business School textbook example of what to do with product when you can’t sell it.” Pfizer, among other drugmakers, has seen sales fall for many drugs as people cut spending, even for essentials such as health care.

Men who use Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs are four times more likely to experience condom breakage than other men, report American researchers in the September issue of Sexually Transmitted Infections. However a separate study conducted by the same team did not find the same association, which would need to be confirmed by other research.

In the first study, the researchers used newspaper and internet advertisements to recruit a convenience sample of 440 men who used condoms for vaginal sex. The self-completion questionnaire focused on the most recent occasion they had sex.

Just under one in ten of the men had used an erectile dysfunction drug on that occasion. For 12% of these men the condom broke, compared to 5% of men who didn’t use an erectile dysfunction drug.

Men reporting a longer duration of intercourse were also more likely to report condom breakage. However, in multivariate analysis, which controls for the skewing effect of other factors, erectile dysfunction drug use remained significant - users were four times more likely to report condom breakage (adjusted odds ratio 4.04, 95% confidence interval 1.06 - 15.41).

The researchers suggest that as Viagra and related drugs increase swelling during an erection, it is plausible that condoms become more tight-fitting. They say that users of these drugs may need to be advised to use condoms that are large enough for an enhanced erection. Moreover, users should be made aware that having sex for longer is associated with condom breakage.

However the same team of researchers published a separate study earlier this year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, which did not find the same association.

In this study, a different group of 705 men were recruited via a website selling sexual paraphernalia. Although most men were heterosexual, some were reporting on anal sex. Men who used recreational drugs were excluded.

Once again, the men were asked about the last time they used a condom for penetrative sex. Seven per cent of men reported using an erectile dysfunction drug.

Condom breakage was rarely reported in this sample, and was no more commonly reported by erectile dysfunction drug users.

On the other hand, users were actually more likely to report the condom slipping off or erection problems during sex. The researchers concluded from this that while Viagra and similar drugs may improve men’s erections, they do not always eliminate all erection problems, especially those associated with condom use.

The researchers believe that their studies highlight the importance of further research into the implications of using erectile dysfunction drugs.