Revealed: Erection pills like Viagra and Cialis have been linked to more than 200 deaths in Britain

Popular erection pills such as Viagra and Cialis have been linked to more than 200 deaths in Britain, MailOnline can reveal.

None of the fatalities – all of which have occurred since 1998 – have been proven to have been caused directly by the drugs.

But the British drugs watchdog is aware of the connection. However, experts insist that the drugs are considered safe and that many incidents may in fact reflect deaths related to sex.

Men can buy sildenafil, the main ingredient in Viagra, and other impotence pills over the counter for as little as £15, and tablets available online for as little as £1.30 per pill.

All reported suspected side effects are recorded under the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) ‘Yellow Card’ scheme.

Officials are using the same database, set up in the wake of the 1960s thalidomide scandal, to track the safety of Covid vaccines.

Although this is impossible to prove, doctors, pharmacists and patients can report side effects believed to be caused by medicines used in Britain.

This could lead to them being revised, warnings being added to the labels or being withdrawn from the market entirely.

Found MailOnline 2,441 reports for sildenafil, tadalafil (brand name Cialis), vardenafil (Levitra) and avanafil (Spedra) in the MHRA database.

Of these, 1,600 were due to serious reactions, but only sildenafil and tadalafil recorded fatalities (205 in total).

45 deaths were reported in women, even though they do not receive the same sexual arousal benefits as men.

Less well known, such medications also treat pulmonary hypertension, a form of high blood pressure in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs.

The same mechanism by which the drugs increase blood flow to the penis also relaxes blood vessels in the chest to treat pulmonary hypertension, which is why some women and children might use it.

Overall, people in their 60s accounted for the highest number of reported fatalities (66), almost a third of the total.

In reported deaths, the majority involved diseases of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, with 50 such deaths occurring.

Most of these (31) were specifically related to heart attacks.

Another major category of reported deaths was nervous system disorders, with 18 fatalities.

The majority of these involved cerebral hemorrhages: bleeding caused by rupturing blood vessels in the brain, which can cause strokes, a known rare possible side effect of the drugs.

Mental health problems were also reported in connection with the drugs, including five cases of suicide.

Other less serious side effects have also been reported.

A total of 57 Britons reported experiencing diarrhea after taking the medicines. Another eight reported unusual levels of flatulence.

Sildenafil, the main ingredient of Viagra, is used to treat both impotence and pulmonary hypertension. Pictured here is the brand name Viagra version

Cialis, whose active ingredient is the drug tadalafil, is another popular erectile dysfunction drug in Britain

Four reported hallucinations, with one experiencing an unusual state of euphoria.

Some (37) ironically reported having an increase in spontaneous or painful erections as an unwanted side effect.

These are most likely people who are taking the drugs for non-impotence-related reasons and to whom the drugs’ different purpose may have come as a surprise.

However, some Brits found the opposite effect, with more than a dozen reports that taking the pills reduced their libido, or ability to get erections.

Millions of British men are now taking impotence medications.

The latest NHS-backed data shows that 22 million prescriptions for these drugs were issued by GPs in England between 2019 and 2023, at a cost of £91 million.

This data does not include over-the-counter purchases as many major pharmacies and online stores now sell their own branded versions.

As such, the 205 reported deaths represent a small proportion of the millions of Britons who have accepted them without difficulty.

It is already known to doctors that the drugs can be dangerous under certain circumstances. For example, Britons with known heart problems are advised not to use them.

Even package inserts distributed with sildenafil acknowledge cases of sudden death in men who have used the drug, although it emphasizes that such cases are rare and mainly in men with heart problems.

“It is not possible to determine whether these events were directly related to Sildenafil,” it also adds.

However, because many Britons are unaware of the ‘Yellow Card’ system, other side effects associated with impotence medications may have been overlooked.

Professor Amr Raheem, a consultant andrologist at men’s health company Adam Health, said it was crucial to remember the context in which people used impotence drugs when looking at the MHRA data.

“It is imperative to understand that sexual activity, similar to any form of physical exertion, carries a risk of heart problems, especially in individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions,” he said.

‘The main issue is therefore the potential for cardiac events during the physical activity associated with sexual intercourse, and not the direct effect of the ED (erectile dysfunction) medications.’

He added that while no drug is 100 percent safe, drugs like sildenafil and tadalafil have a very good track record.

“Millions of men have benefited from these medications, which have been subjected to extensive testing and research, confirming their safety and efficacy,” he said.

But Professor Raheem added that given the nuances in how these medications can interact with other conditions, supervision by a qualified health professional before taking the medication was crucial.

Millions of British men are now taking impotence medications. The latest NHS-backed data shows that 22 million such prescriptions for these drugs were given out by GPs in England between 2019 and 2023, at a cost of £91 million (stock image)

“This is particularly relevant now that Viagra and Cialis are available without a prescription in the UK,” he said.

A spokesperson for the MHRA said: ‘Sildenafil and tadalafil have been used to treat erectile dysfunction for many years without serious safety concerns.

‘The side effects known to be associated with its use are listed in the information provided to healthcare professionals and patients.

“This information also includes guidance on which patients cannot safely use these medications and which other medications and medical conditions increase the risk of side effects.”

The spokesperson added that they are continuously assessing the safety of all medications, including sildenafil and tadalafil, including yellow card reports.

They added: ‘The nature of yellow card reporting means that reported events are not always proven adverse events and some events have nevertheless occurred.’

Every drug must undergo safety trials before being made available to the public.

But there is an unavoidable risk that rare reactions or interactions with other diseases and conditions may be overlooked.

Systems such as MHRA’s Yellow Card reports allow experts to spot potential side effects through active monitoring, although some MPs are concerned the system is not proactive enough.

Such reports cannot prove that the product in question is to blame.

For example, a heart attack in a patient taking an impotence drug may simply be a coincidence and have nothing to do with the medication.

Side effects associated with impotence medications have been previously reported in the medical literature.

MailOnline reported last month how a Brazilian man suffered an unprecedented reaction, developing pustules across his body after taking tadalafil, sold as Cialis in Britain.

Other reports have linked sildenafil use to eye problems, including vision loss.

No medicine is without risk and erection pills are no exception.

The NHS says around one in 100 people will experience common side effects from taking sildenafil, the most commonly prescribed erectile dysfunction drug in Britain.

These include headaches, nausea, hot flushes, indigestion, a stuffy nose and dizziness, according to the NHS.

The health service warns that people who use the pills for a longer period of time, for example with pulmonary hypertension, will suffer from this more often than those who use the pills for erectile dysfunction.

More serious side effects that require urgent medical care are estimated to occur in fewer than one in 1,000 people.

These include seizures, a prolonged and possibly painful erection, especially for more than two hours, chest pain and in very rare cases a life-threatening allergic reaction to the drug called anaphylaxis.