Washington - The US Army has spent tens of millions of dollars to help soldiers and veterans of the military in the bedroom by covering the cost of erectile dysfunction medications.
The Pentagon's bill for medicine to treat the problem totalled $84 million last year, a military spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.
Half of the total was spent on the drug Viagra, according to data compiled by the Defence Health Agency within the Department of Defence.
Since 2011 the US military has spent $294 million on medication to treat erectile dysfunction, about equal to the cost of four F-35 fighter jets, according to the Military Times.
Erection dysfunction can be triggered by events soldiers experience during deployment, the report said.
Studies show that the number of soldiers who suffer from erectile dysfunction in recent years has gone up.
About 90 percent of the patients prescribed the drugs were veterans.
A report on the data was published online last week by the Washington Free Beacon, but with far lower figures.
Sapa-dpa