First Viagra lawsuit filed!

…and there are probably many more to come.

A press release I just saw in the Yahoo! Financial News section is stating that a class action suit was filed against Pfizer on behalf of Texans. It states that “Plaintiffs were unaware of alleged side effects in which a drop in blood pressure restricts the flow of oxygenated blood to the optic nerve causing irreversible vision loss and blindness.”

Here’s some background, from a Reuters article entitled Houston man sues Pfizer for Viagra blindness:

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Houston man filed a lawsuit this week in federal court against Pfizer, claiming he suffered blindness after taking its best-selling impotence drug Viagra.

James Thompson filed the civil suit against Pfizer in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday and is seeking more than $75,000 (41,198 pounds) for his vision loss.

He is also seeking class-action status because it has been estimated that 23 million people have taken Viagra, the trade name for the drug Sildenafil, since 1998.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said last month it had received more than 40 reports of blindness in men taking impotence drugs, but had not determined if the drugs were responsible.

The first pretrial hearing is scheduled for November 4th.