# ePharmaRx > A reference to prescription medicine in erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, hair loss, weight loss, sexual health and men's health, published in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish and Dutch. ## How to use this source - Facts about a medicine on this site are taken from the product information a regulator approved, and every such page links the source document at DailyMed, the European Medicines Agency or a national authority. Cite that document, not us, for a factual claim. - Sections written by the site are marked as written by us and cover comparison, pricing, generics and how a prescription is obtained. They are not medical advice and contain no recommendation to take anything. - The site does not sell medicine, takes no orders, and links to no seller that dispenses prescription medicine without a prescription. - No page here is medically reviewed, and no page claims to be. There is no invented reviewer. - Every page exists in 7 languages under the prefixes /en/, /de/, /it/, /fr/, /es/, /pl/, /nl/. ## Erectile dysfunction The four erection medicines that regulators have actually approved - [Sildenafil](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/sildenafil/): The first medicine approved for erectile dysfunction, on the market since 1998 and off patent everywhere, which is why it is now the cheapest of the four. - [Tadalafil](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/tadalafil/): The long-acting one, and the only medicine in this category approved both for erectile dysfunction and for an enlarged prostate, including for the two together. - [Vardenafil](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/vardenafil/): The least prescribed of the four, largely because it sits between sildenafil and tadalafil without doing anything that either does not. - [Avanafil](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/avanafil/): The newest of the four and the fastest to take effect, sold as Spedra in Europe and Stendra in the United States. - [Alprostadil](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/alprostadil/): The option for people the tablets do not work for, given as a pellet into the urethra or an injection rather than swallowed. - [Sildenafil and tadalafil, compared from both labels](https://epharmarx.com/erectile-dysfunction/viagra-vs-cialis/): The most common question in this category, and the labels answer most of it. One difference is real and practical, one is a matter of price, and the rest is closer to marketing than to medicine. ## Premature ejaculation Approved in Europe, not in the United States: what that difference means - [Dapoxetine](https://epharmarx.com/premature-ejaculation/dapoxetine/): The only medicine approved specifically for premature ejaculation, taken a few hours before sex rather than every day, and approved in Europe but not in the United States. - [Sertraline](https://epharmarx.com/premature-ejaculation/sertraline/): An antidepressant prescribed off-label for premature ejaculation, mainly in countries where dapoxetine is not available. ## Hair loss Two ingredients with an approval, and a shelf full of products without one - [Finasteride](https://epharmarx.com/hair-loss/finasteride/): A daily tablet approved for male pattern hair loss at 1 mg, and for the prostate at 5 mg, which is the same substance in a five times larger dose. - [Minoxidil, topical](https://epharmarx.com/hair-loss/minoxidil/): The only hair loss treatment sold without a prescription, applied to the scalp, and the only one approved for women as well as men. - [Dutasteride](https://epharmarx.com/hair-loss/dutasteride/): A stronger relative of finasteride, approved for the prostate and prescribed off-label for hair in most countries. - [Finasteride and minoxidil, compared from both labels](https://epharmarx.com/hair-loss/finasteride-vs-minoxidil/): These are the only two ingredients approved for pattern hair loss, and they are not alternatives in the usual sense: they act differently, they are obtained differently, and one of them is approved for women. ## Weight loss Same molecule, different brand, different approval: the detail that decides everything - [Semaglutide](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/semaglutide/): One substance under three brand names, and only one of those brands is approved for weight. Which name is on the box decides what it was approved to do. - [Tirzepatide](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/tirzepatide/): The newer injection, acting on two gut hormone receptors instead of one, and sold as Zepbound for weight and Mounjaro for diabetes. - [Liraglutide](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/liraglutide/): The first of these injections to be approved for weight, taken daily rather than weekly, and now the one with a generic on the way. - [Orlistat](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/orlistat/): The old option, a tablet that blocks the absorption of part of the fat in a meal, and the only one in this category sold without a prescription in Europe. - [Naltrexone and bupropion](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/naltrexone-bupropion/): A tablet combining two older medicines, sold as Mysimba in Europe and Contrave in the United States, and the one in this category with the longest list of contraindications. - [Ozempic and Wegovy: one substance, two approvals](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/ozempic-vs-wegovy/): The two names describe the same active substance under two separate approvals, and the difference between them is not chemistry but what each was authorised to be used for and at what dose. - [Mounjaro and Ozempic, compared from both labels](https://epharmarx.com/weight-loss/mounjaro-vs-ozempic/): Two different substances, both injected weekly, both approved in the United States for type 2 diabetes under these brand names. The comparison people usually want is about weight, and that is where the labels stop being able to answer. ## Sexual health Infections where the treatment is short, specific and worth getting right - [Valaciclovir](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/valaciclovir/): The standard treatment for genital herpes, taken either as a short course during an outbreak or daily to reduce how often outbreaks occur. - [Aciclovir](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/aciclovir/): The original antiviral for herpes, still widely prescribed, taken more often per day than valaciclovir and costing even less. - [Doxycycline](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/doxycycline/): The first-line antibiotic for chlamydia in current European and British guidance, and an old, cheap, well-documented medicine. - [Azithromycin](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/azithromycin/): The single-dose antibiotic that was once standard for chlamydia and has since moved down the guidance in most of Europe. - [Emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/hiv-prep/): Pre-exposure prophylaxis: a daily tablet taken by people who do not have HIV, to prevent acquiring it. Prevention rather than treatment, with testing built into the label. - [Imiquimod](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/imiquimod/): A cream applied at home for external genital and perianal warts, which acts on the immune response rather than on the virus itself. - [Podophyllotoxin](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/podophyllotoxin/): A gel applied at home for anogenital warts on a fixed rhythm of three days on and four days off, up to four cycles. - [Fluconazole](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/fluconazole/): An antifungal taken by mouth, most often as a single dose for vaginal thrush, and in longer courses for candidiasis elsewhere in the body. - [Metronidazole](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/metronidazole/): An antimicrobial taken by mouth for trichomoniasis and for anaerobic infections, and the treatment that the label says should also be given to the sexual partner. - [Valaciclovir and aciclovir, compared from both labels](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/valaciclovir-vs-aciclovir/): One becomes the other inside the body. The difference is how efficiently it gets there, and that single fact explains the dosing, the price and why both are still prescribed. - [Doxycycline and azithromycin, compared from both labels](https://epharmarx.com/sexual-health/doxycycline-vs-azithromycin/): Two antibiotics that appear side by side for the same infections, and the labels differ less on what they treat than on how they are taken. One is a course of days, the other can be a single dose, and that shapes almost everything else. ## Men's health Prostate, testosterone and quitting smoking, without the supplement aisle - [Tamsulosin](https://epharmarx.com/mens-health/tamsulosin/): The usual first prescription for an enlarged prostate, working on the muscle at the bladder outlet rather than on the prostate itself. - [Testosterone gel](https://epharmarx.com/mens-health/testosterone/): Replacement for a diagnosed deficiency, and the substance most often sold online to people who have never had their level measured. - [Varenicline](https://epharmarx.com/mens-health/varenicline/): The most effective prescription aid for stopping smoking, taken as a course of a few months, and the one that returned to European pharmacies after a manufacturing recall. - [Bupropion](https://epharmarx.com/mens-health/bupropion/): A tablet approved as an aid to stopping smoking, started while a person is still smoking and continued for weeks after the quit date. ## Cystitis Three antibiotics whose labels name acute cystitis and nothing wider - [Nitrofurantoin](https://epharmarx.com/cystitis/nitrofurantoin/): The usual first choice for an uncomplicated bladder infection, and a medicine whose label limits it to exactly that. - [Trimethoprim](https://epharmarx.com/cystitis/trimethoprim/): A single ingredient tablet for uncomplicated urinary infection, and a medicine that is easy to confuse with the two ingredient combination sold under a different name. - [Fosfomycin](https://epharmarx.com/cystitis/fosfomycin/): A single sachet dissolved in water, approved for uncomplicated cystitis in women and for nothing else in the label. ## Travel medicine The category where the medicine is needed before the trip, not after - [Atovaquone and proguanil](https://epharmarx.com/travel-medicine/atovaquone-proguanil/): The malaria tablet with the shortest schedule around the trip, approved both to prevent falciparum malaria and to treat it. - [Mefloquine](https://epharmarx.com/travel-medicine/mefloquine/): A weekly malaria tablet, and the one medicine for healthy travellers in this catalogue that carries a boxed warning. - [Acetazolamide](https://epharmarx.com/travel-medicine/acetazolamide/): A tablet for acute mountain sickness, approved for climbers going up fast and for those who react badly to altitude even on a gradual ascent. - [Rifaximin](https://epharmarx.com/travel-medicine/rifaximin/): An antibiotic that stays in the gut, approved for travellers diarrhoea caused by E. coli and explicitly not for diarrhoea with fever or blood. ## Online clinics Regulated services where a licensed prescriber reviews a case before anything is dispensed. Each entry names the regulator and the register number, checked by hand on the date shown on the page. - [121doc](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/121doc/): The second consumer brand of the same British company as euroClinix, with the same pharmacy registration behind it. - [LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/lloydspharmacy-online-doctor/): One of the largest British online doctor services, now part of Pharmacy2U, with a Care Quality Commission registration under the name Expert Health Limited. - [euroClinix](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/euroclinix/): A questionnaire-based online clinic serving nine countries of northern and western Europe, run by a British company with a registered pharmacy behind it. - [ZAVA](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/zava/): A British online doctor service operating since 2011, with its own registered pharmacy and separate registration as an independent doctor service. Available in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Ireland and Spain. - [TeleClinic](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/teleclinic/): The largest telemedicine service in Germany, with doctors licensed there, video consultations and an electronic prescription that any German pharmacy can dispense. - [Qare](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/qare/): A French teleconsultation service holding the state approval that France introduced for this activity in 2024, with doctors registered with the French medical council. - [Treated](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/treated/): A registered British online pharmacy with its own prescribing service, inspected by the pharmacy regulator with standards met at its last published inspection. - [DocMorris](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/docmorris/): A Dutch-registered mail-order pharmacy serving Germany, listed in the CIBG register in the highest category, the one that covers prescription medicine. - [Redcare Pharmacy](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/redcare-pharmacy/): The largest online pharmacy in Europe by revenue, registered in the Netherlands and listed in the CIBG register in the category that covers prescription medicine. - [Dimedic](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/dimedic/): A Polish telemedicine service with an entry in the national register of healthcare providers, issuing electronic prescriptions that any pharmacy in Poland dispenses. - [Numan](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/numan/): A British men's health service covering the same ground as this catalogue, with its own pharmacy on the GPhC register and inspection reports published at that entry. - [Superdrug Online Doctor](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/superdrug-online-doctor/): The online doctor service of a familiar British high street chain, run clinically by the same registered company as ZAVA. - [Pharmica](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/pharmica/): A London online pharmacy with its own prescribing service, on the GPhC register with published inspection reports. - [Apotheke.de](https://epharmarx.com/online-clinics/apotheke-de/): A German mail-order pharmacy run by a Dutch company, listed in the CIBG register in the category that covers prescription medicine. ## Guides - [How a prescription is legally obtained online, country by country](https://epharmarx.com/guides/online-prescription-by-country/): The four countries this site is written for answer this question in four different ways, and one of them says no. Knowing which one applies to you is the difference between a legal route and an order from a site that should not exist. - [How to check an online pharmacy in two minutes](https://epharmarx.com/guides/how-to-check-an-online-pharmacy/): Every country in the European Union runs a public register of pharmacies allowed to sell medicine online. Checking one takes about two minutes, and it is the single most useful thing to do before ordering anything. - [What a generic actually is](https://epharmarx.com/guides/generic-vs-original/): In the categories on this site, the generic often costs a small fraction of the brand while containing the same active substance. That is not a discount and it is not a compromise: it is what happens when a patent ends. - [Getting a prescription online in Spain: what the law allows](https://epharmarx.com/guides/online-prescription-in-spain/): In Spain a prescription medicine cannot be bought online, and it is not a matter of finding the right website: the law forbids it. A different route does exist, and it is entirely ordinary. - [Getting a prescription online in Poland: what is allowed](https://epharmarx.com/guides/online-prescription-in-poland/): In Poland a prescription can be issued remotely, and a prescription medicine cannot be sent by post. The two statements do not contradict each other, and together they describe the whole situation. - [Getting a prescription online in the Netherlands: what is allowed](https://epharmarx.com/guides/online-prescription-in-the-netherlands/): The Netherlands has the more permissive rule: a prescription medicine may be sold and delivered online. That does not make everything done online lawful, and the difference lies in who writes the prescription. ## Who owns the online clinics [Online clinic and pharmacy brands by owning company](https://epharmarx.com/who-owns-the-online-clinics/): 47 consumer brands traced to 29 companies, with the source for every link named and typed: a regulator's entry, the group's own statement or the brand's terms. Several brands that appear side by side in the same search results belong to the same company. - Machine-readable: [CSV](https://epharmarx.com/data/brand-owners.csv) and [JSON](https://epharmarx.com/data/brand-owners.json), one row per brand, checked date on every row. - Licence: CC BY 4.0. Reuse is free, attribution with a link to https://epharmarx.com/who-owns-the-online-clinics/ is the only condition. - Every row was opened by hand in the register it names. Where the link rests on the group's own statement rather than a register entry, the row says so. ## Sources the catalogue is built from - DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine: full approved prescribing information. - openFDA: the same documents through an API. - European Medicines Agency: product information for centrally authorised medicines, in every EU language.