- OSLO (Reuters) - Doctors at Norway's national prison are under scrutiny
for prescribing Viagra pills to inmates serving time for sexual crimes,
officials said.
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- The chief county medical officer of health
confirmed on Tuesday that Viagra had been prescribed to at least two sex-crime
inmates but defended the use of the anti-impotence pills.
-
- "An inmate is a normal individual
who from time to time--when on leave--wants to have functional sexual relations
with his girlfriend or spouse," Anders Smith said.
-
- "If they have a problem, they have
the same rights as anyone else to get help," he told Reuters.
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- The governor of Ila national prison near
Oslo said he wanted more information about the use of Viagra after a 42-year-old
inmate, serving time for incest, was prescribed the pill and later sexually
abused his 16-year-old son in the prison's visiting area.
-
- "We need a clarification of the
situation. We need to know what's going on," governor Knut Bjarkeid
told Reuters. Under current rules, the medical records of the inmates are
confidential--even to prison officials.
-
- Bjarkeid said he had sent a letter to
the medical authorities that oversees the health services of the prison's
115 inmates, asking for an investigation.
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited.
All rights reserved.
Comment
Alton Raines
2-11-02
Some visiting area! Sheesh. This is like handing loaded shotguns to inmates
convicted of assault with pistols. Sexual predators don't deserve leave,
and I find it hard to believe they ever have "normal" sexual
interactions with girlfriend's or spouses!
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