Health secretary Frank Dobson has been urged to 'stand firm' on his plans to limit the availability of anti-impotence drug Viagra on the NHS, in the face of the British Medical Association's decision to reject the proposals. NHS Confederation chief executive Stephen Thornton said the BMA had 'yet again' rejected the government's approach 'without offering any sensible alternative course of action'. The BMA's GP committee argued that the categories of patients chosen to receive Viagra on the NHS were arbitrary and did not take account of clinical or cost-effectiveness, equity or public opinion.