Attorney General's News Release

April 24, 1998

Nixon obtains restraining order to stop marketing and sales of knockoff impotence treatment "Vaegra"

Kansas City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today obtained a temporary restraining order against a business with a Kansas City address that has been selling a knockoff impotence treatment with a name very similar to a well-publicized prescription treatment for impotence.

The "American Urological Clinic" has been sending direct mail ads touting an impotence treatment called Vaegra (VAY-gra), with a 75-day supply costing $83.95. Nixon said the clinic whose "suite" address on the Country Club Plaza is actually a Mailboxes Etc. dropbox is trying to confuse consumers with a product name similar to Viagra, a legitimate impotence treatment approved last month by the Food and Drug Administration and available only through prescription.

"The brochure states that Vaegra was developed after years of scientific research at the American Urological Clinic," Nixon said. "If that's true, these scientists would have to be tiny enough to fit in a mailbox. I suspect the only research that went into this product was determining how to use the name to rip off consumers."

The clinic's solicitations even reprint a Newsweek article on the success of Viagra without making it clear to consumers that their product is not Viagra, Nixon said.

On April 21 Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra, obtained a federal TRO against the American Urological Clinic for using the name Vaegra.

"Shameless quackery like this preys on people who are looking for a real solution to their medical problems," Nixon said. "Consumers should consult their physicians or pharmacists before ordering products like this."

The temporary restraining order issued today by Jackson County Circuit Judge Ronald Holliger prevents the American Urological Clinic from advertising, marketing or selling its products in Missouri or from retrieving mail sent to its Kansas City dropbox. The order also prohibits the clinic from taking phone orders from Missouri.

A hearing on Nixon's request for a preliminary injunction against the clinic is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on April 29 in Kansas City.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818