Warning: Viagra pills can be dangerous

Viagra fever has not hit the Palestinian territories yet but a senior Palestinian health official warns against hasty use of this new medicine as a sexual impotency treatment.

The warning followed the reported death of eight Americans who had used the "magic pill" and the admission of three Egyptians to hospital after they took those pills.

Ziad Sha'ath of the Palestinian Health Ministry issued warnings to all pharmacies and black market traders in Palestine against any marketing of the pills. He said the ministry would seize and confiscate the medicine since no license has been issued yet for massive use.

"We have not received any application to register the medicine, and therefore it does not appear on the list of legal drugs that pharmacies can market in Palestine," he said. Viagra pills that are smuggled into Gaza from Egypt are being sold for US $30 each.