The site by ED Choice, which sells generic versions of drugs like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis (none of which exist in what I like to call “the real world”), features a Google logo with the “o”s replaced by two li’l Viagra pills, as well as this text:

We’ve just launched a pharmaceutical interface for Google, as well as several new features that will improve the Google experience for people buying pills and using pharmaceutical interfaces.

We are really pleased to have worked on a launch that will help people use pharmacy and surgery.

We are currently working to make it available to even more users with more language interfaces.

Visit Google’s accredited pharmacy.

It never ceases to amaze me just how many businesses rely entirely on just how freakin’ stupid people are. An intelligent person would never fall for this; and yet, people make money.

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

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Pfizer Inc. said Monday that a review of it’s famous erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra, concluded that there was no evidence of a link to a rare ocular condition known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).

“There is no evidence that Viagra causes blindness or any other serious ocular condition,” said Joseph Feczko, Pfizer’s chief medical officer.

The FDA agreed with the conclusion that no causal relationship had been established. Pfizer, covering its tracks, said it is in talks with the FDA about revising the Viagra label to include a warning about some men who have used the drug had been stricken with NAION.

Further tests showed that some are at risk of a rectal-ocular nerve crossover, giving them a crappy outlook on life. That was a joke.

Medicaid spends an estimated $38 million a year on these drugs. All but $2 million of this money is on Viagra itself. ”We live in a world of limited resources, and those dollars could be spent more wisely,” said chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles E. Grassley.

New York Governor George Pataki has already cut all public funding for the drugs and has proposed that legislation allow the state to target only the convicted sex offenders. New York Daily News reports:

The ban stays, Pataki said, until the Legislature agrees to allow the state Insurance and Health Departments to access the complete list of Megan’s Law offenders. Only then can the state stop dangerous creeps on Medicaid and Medicare from getting free sex-boosting drugs, according to the governor.

Pataki’s move has immediate consequences for thousands of New Yorkers not only on Medicaid but also those enrolled in Family Health Plus, Healthy NY and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage programs.

“This temporary ban will ensure that no sex offender receives these drugs at taxpayer expense while we push to pass legislation that will allow the Health and Insurance Departments to obtain the complete sex offender registry and put a targeted ban in place,” said Pataki.

In just New York and Florida, over 400 convicted sex offenders have received reimbursement for erectiledysfunction drugs. 198 have Viagra reimbursement from Medicaid after being convicted since 2000.

The bill itself has been cosponsored by Republican Senators Trent Lott of Mississippi, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and John Ensign of Nevada.

”We really don’t think there are going to be many states that are going to be slow about finding a way to keep convicted sex offenders from getting erectiledysfunction drugs,” said AP quoted Medicaid Agency spokesman Gary Karr as saying.

In other Viagra related news, the FDA is in talks with Viagra maker Pfizer Inc. about a possible revision to Viagra’s label based on rare cases of blindness that have been reported in connection the drug.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

So far, no evidence has proved that these cases were directly caused by Viagra, but the FDA has identified 50 cases of varying degrees of blindess occuring in men with heart disease and/or diabetes.

“It’s an extraordinarily rare complication – perhaps of the underlying condition that the patient has,” said Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Barbara Ryan. “I don’t personally think it’s that significant.”

The specific blindness condition in question is called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), and is the result of eye nerves not receiving blood flow. This can lead to permanent loss of sight. According to Zee News,

Dr. Michael Berelowitz, Pfizer’s vice president for worldwide medical, said in an interview he did not think the FDA would require a ”black box” warning – the strongest for prescription drugs – about the Naion reports.

Pfizer contacted the FDA about the blindness cases in March, after a study in the journal of neuro-ophthalmology reported seven Naion cases in Viagra users, Berelowitz said. The study said the cases occurred within 36 hours after the men took Viagra.

Currently, Viagra’s label warns of a potential increase in sensitivity to light or blurred vision. It also mentions past reports of increased intraocular pressure, retinal vascular disease and other eye problems.

Viagra has also been in the news recently for another reason. Convicted sex offenders have been getting Viagra and other erectiledysfunction drugs from Medicaid. Lawmakers are now in the process of putting an end to this.

Medicaid spends an estimated $38 million a year on these drugs. All but $2 million of this money is on Viagra itself. ”We live in a world of limited resources, and those dollars could be spent more wisely,” said chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles E. Grassley.

New York Governor George Pataki has already cut all public funding for the drugs and has proposed that legislation allow the state to target only the convicted sex offenders. Pfizer shares fell nearly 3% to $28.10 in early trade today.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

There have been reports of blindness in connection with Viagra, though the FDA hasn’t found any evidence yet that the drug is the cause. The FDA has however identified 50 cases of varying degrees of blindess occuring in men with heart disease and/or diabetes.

“It’s an extraordinarily rare complication – perhaps of the underlying condition that the patient has,” said Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Barbara Ryan. “I don’t personally think it’s that significant.”

The blindness condition in question is known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or NAION. NAION is the result of the eye nerves not receiving blood flow, which potentially causes permanent loss of vision. As MarketWatch explains,

Viagra, approved by the FDA in 1998, works by helping to regulate blood flow. The drug’s label already warns of certain cardiac risks and vision problems, such as blurred vision and sensitivity to light.

Rumors that Viagra could cause blindness in some users have circulated for months. In late March, a group of ophthalmologists at the University of Minnesota Medical School published a review of 14 such cases in the March edition of the Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology.

Currently, Viagra’s label warns of a potential increase in sensitivity to light or blurred vision. It also mentions past reports of increased intraocular pressure, retinal vascular disease and other eye problems.

Viagra has also been in the news recently for another reason. Convicted sex offenders have been getting Viagra and other erectiledysfunction drugs from Medicaid. Lawmakers are now in the process of putting an end to this.

Medicaid spends an estimated $38 million a year on these drugs. All but $2 million of this money is on Viagra itself. ”We live in a world of limited resources, and those dollars could be spent more wisely,” said chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles E. Grassley.

New York Governor George Pataki has already cut all public funding for the drugs and has proposed that legislation allow the state to target only the convicted sex offenders. Pfizer shares fell nearly 3% to $28.10 in early trading today.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

The FDA hasn’t found any evidence yet that Viagra is the cause, but it has identified 50 cases of varying degrees of blindess occuring in men with heart disease and/or diabetes.

“It’s an extraordinarily rare complication – perhaps of the underlying condition that the patient has,” said Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Barbara Ryan. “I don’t personally think it’s that significant.”

This particular blindness condition is called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), and is caused when eye nerves stop receiving blood flow potentially causing permanent loss of sight. According to MarketWatch,

Viagra, approved by the FDA in 1998, works by helping to regulate blood flow. The drug’s label already warns of certain cardiac risks and vision problems, such as blurred vision and sensitivity to light.

Rumors that Viagra could cause blindness in some users have circulated for months. In late March, a group of ophthalmologists at the University of Minnesota Medical School published a review of 14 such cases in the March edition of the Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology.

Currently, Viagra’s label warns of a potential increase in sensitivity to light or blurred vision. It also mentions past reports of increased intraocular pressure, retinal vascular disease and other eye problems.

Viagra has also been in the news recently for another reason. Convicted sex offenders have been getting Viagra and other erectiledysfunction drugs from Medicaid. Lawmakers are now in the process of putting an end to this.

Medicaid spends an estimated $38 million a year on these drugs. All but $2 million of this money is on Viagra itself. ”We live in a world of limited resources, and those dollars could be spent more wisely,” said chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles E. Grassley.

New York Governor George Pataki has already cut all public funding for the drugs and has proposed that legislation allow the state to target only the convicted sex offenders. Pfizer shares fell nearly 3% to $28.10 in early trade today.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

Medicaid spends an estimated $38 million a year on these drugs. All but $2 million of this money is on Viagra itself. ”We live in a world of limited resources, and those dollars could be spent more wisely,” said chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles E. Grassley.

New York Governor George Pataki has already cut all public funding for the drugs and has proposed that legislation allow the state to target only the convicted sex offenders. New York Daily News reports:

The ban stays, Pataki said, until the Legislature agrees to allow the state Insurance and Health Departments to access the complete list of Megan’s Law offenders. Only then can the state stop dangerous creeps on Medicaid and Medicare from getting free sex-boosting drugs, according to the governor.

Pataki’s move has immediate consequences for thousands of New Yorkers not only on Medicaid but also those enrolled in Family Health Plus, Healthy NY and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage programs.

“This temporary ban will ensure that no sex offender receives these drugs at taxpayer expense while we push to pass legislation that will allow the Health and Insurance Departments to obtain the complete sex offender registry and put a targeted ban in place,” said Pataki.

In just New York and Florida, over 400 convicted sex offenders have received reimbursement for erectiledysfunction drugs. 198 have Viagra reimbursement from Medicaid after being convicted since 2000.

The bill itself has been cosponsored by Republican Senators Trent Lott of Mississippi, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and John Ensign of Nevada.

”We really don’t think there are going to be many states that are going to be slow about finding a way to keep convicted sex offenders from getting erectiledysfunction drugs,” said AP quoted Medicaid Agency spokesman Gary Karr as saying.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

A Hard Thing To Fix: it was announced yesterday that Microsoft and Pfizer will become partners to slow down the Viagra spam that MSN users receive. You may have enjoyed having these email sales in your email inbox-if not Viagra, maybe you’ve seen “v 1ag ra,” etc. Apparently, Pfizer wants a piece of the action because they are getting all the blame for filling-up the users inboxes. Unfortunately, the action is only going to be taken on the MSN Hotmail service, but any reduction in spam, even if I don’t get to have some myself, is a win.

Microsoft and Pfizer Penetrate Viagra Spam Ring, Get Hard Evidence: ISP giant Microsoft, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, have (finally!) teamed up to deliver a one-two punch to those legion of Viagra spammers who are the scourge of the Internet.

Aunty has been saying for ages that Pfizer needed to get involved, as in addition to the anti-spamming laws available these days, Pfizer has good old trademark infringement law – not to mention all of the various laws regulating and protecting legitimate pharmaceuticals – laws which are powerful, well-established, and, perhaps most importantly, well-understood by the judges (compared to that new-fangled Internet thing).

Affiliates, Spam, and the Little Blue Pill: These suits are going after the companies themselves that peddle the Little Blue Pill knock-offs, and they are also going after “the spammers advertising for those Web sites” aka pharmaceutical affiliates.

Similar to the bloggers, Good Morning Silicon Valley uses a lot of double entendre in their article on the subject:

“Depositions lasting more than four hours, though rare, require immediate medical attention”

“And they’re not going about this half-cocked. Hardened by the constant friction, the companies have pushed ahead with a total of 17 lawsuits against two online pharmacies…”

“While it’s nice to see Microsoft and Pfizer stiffening their resolve against the outfits promoting and selling Viagra knock-offs, penetrating the offenders’ defenses will be difficult.”

“Clearly, Microsoft and Pfizer have a long, hard battle ahead of them.”

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