British doctors give Viagra to save premature baby

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — English doctors used the anti-impotence drug Viagra to save the life of a severely premature baby, media reports have said.

Medics in the northeast city of Newcastle upon Tyne gave the drug to Lewis Goodfellow -- who was born at 24 weeks, weighing just one pound, eight ounces (780 grammes) -- as one of his lungs failed and not enough oxygen was getting into his bloodstream.

The drug opened up tiny blood vessels in his lungs, allowing oxygen to be captured and flow around the body. Lewis, who was born in August last year, was eventually allowed home last month.

Alan Fenton, consultant neonatologist at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary, said although oxygen can be pumped into the lungs of premature babies with breathing difficulties, there was...