Man takes huge dose of Viagra-style drug and is left seeing red… permanently

A 31-year-old man who bought a Viagra-style erection drug online and swigged it direct from the bottle ended up with red-tinted vision, permanently.

Doctors attempted to treat the side effect – but no treatment worked.

Doctors diagnosed ‘irreversible erythropsia’ – characterised by red-tinted vision, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

He had drunk an unspecified dose of sildenafil citrate – the active ingredient in Viagra – ‘direct from the bottle’, the researchers said.

Doctors say the man had suffered ‘structural changes’ to his retina.

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Dr. Richard Rosen said, ‘While we know colored-vision disturbance is a well-described side effect of this medication, we have never been able to visualize the structural effect of the drug on the retina until now.

‘To actually see these types of structural changes was unexpected, but it explained the symptoms that the patient suffered from.’

Pfizer, maker of Viagra, sought to distance itself from the incident, saying, ‘Pfizer is aware of media reports incorrectly citing Viagra as the medicine linked to a case report issued by Mount Sinai Hospital.

‘According to the hospital statement, the individual actually purchased liquid sildenafil online, with no indication whether a prescription was provided, and then ingested an unspecified dosage.

‘It’s important to note that no regulatory body has approved liquid sildenafil citrate to treat erectile dysfunction.’