Viagra and Sex Offenders

Okay, when I read this in the local rag, I thought it had to be some kind of joke. Sex offenders having their viagra fix subsidiezed by tax payer bucks? Zoiks. There has to be an award for the most ironic public policy discrepency and this would get it.

Slice:

Federal officials are scrambling to find a way to plug a legal loophole that allows convicted rapists and other high-risk sex offenders to receive erectile-dysfunction drugs paid for by Medicaid.

The issue was revealed Sunday by the New York state comptroller's office, which said audits covering the period of January 2000 to March 2005 found 198 sex offenders in New York received Medicaid-reimbursed Viagra after their convictions. Their crimes included offenses against children as young as 2 years old, Comptroller Alan Hevesi said.