A man is suing a big-mouthed pharmacist after the CVS employee spilled his Viagra purchases to his wife and effectively ruined his marriage.
Talk about the erectile-dysfunction pills backfiring on its user, instead of the medication helping a relationship flourish in the bedroom, it ended up contributing to the collapse of one.
The Lawsuit
Michael Feinberg from Long Island had a prescription for eight 100-milligram pills of Viagra with five refills, according to New York Post. During his trip to the Merrick Road CVS last year, Feinberg made it a point to tell the CVS employee — called "Aurula" in the court papers that he intends to pay for his purchases himself and he doesn't want it to reflect in his insurance.
However, when Feinberg's wife called the pharmacy chain a few days later for her prescriptions, a loose-lipped CVS employee spilled the beans about his purchase of Viagra.
In the lawsuit, Feinberg claims that their marriage broke down as a result of the divulged secret and he is now suing CVS for violating his privacy. His team is citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires the permission of a patient to reveal their information.
The disgruntled patient is seeking damages for "genuine, severe mental injury and emotional harm."
CVS Keeps Mum
CVS spokesperson Gaby Serby released a statement to Huffington Post, saying that the company doesn't comment on specific pending claims and litigation.
"We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that we provide medications to the correct patient," he continues. "We also place the highest priority on protecting the privacy of those we serve, and we take our responsibility to safeguard confidential information very seriously."
Apparently, this is not an isolated case. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department reveals that they're expecting about 17,000 complaints on privacy issues for this year alone.
Erectile Dysfunction Becoming More Common
While this recent incident suggests that getting medication for erectile dysfunction may still be seen in a negative light, it supposedly ruined a marriage. After all, studies show that there's an "epidemic" of impotence in the United Kingdom, according to the Mirror.
Polls reveal that 43 percent of United Kingdom males between the ages of 18 and 60 are suffering from impotence. Some of the main reasons mentioned are stress, tiredness, anxiety, and heavy drinking.
Surprisingly, more men in their 30s (50 percent) were finding it difficult getting or maintaining an erection, compared to other age groups.