FEMALE VIAGRA APPROVED BY FDA ADVISORY PANEL

[HairOfTheDog]

A drug to treat low female sexual desire should be approved with strict measures in place to ensure patients are fully aware of its risks, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Thursday.

The FDA, which has twice rejected the drug, Flibanserin, is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisory panels but typically does so.

The drug works differently from Viagra, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction and has been available since 1998. Flibanserin works on the brain while Viagra affects blood flow to the genitals.

Flibanserin was originally developed as an antidepressant by Boehringer Ingelheim, which sold the drug to Sprout following a negative advisory panel meeting in 2010.

The benefits of the drug are marginal, panelists said, but meaningful for some patients. Serious side effects include the risk of fainting at unpredictable times, accidental injury and low blood pressure.

The panel's recommendation follows months of lobbying by the drug's developer, privately held Sprout Pharmaceuticals, aided by a number of women's advocacy groups which accused the FDA of gender bias, a charge the agency rejects.

Potential risk management measures suggested by the panel included requiring physicians to be certified before being allowed to prescribe the drug and requiring pharmacies to confirm the physician's certification, establishment of a patient registry, additional safety studies after the drug is on the market, and a warning against the use of alcohol when taking the drug.

Dozens of women spoke to the panel about the distress caused by their low sexual desire and urged the FDA to approve the drug, whose proposed trade name is Addyi.

Others characterized Sprout's lobbying campaign as an attempt to bully the FDA into approving a drug with modest benefits and real safety concerns. Some panelists said they were concerned that patients could faint while behind the wheel of car or in other circumstances that could lead to serious injury or death.

Full story: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102735987
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I guess if some women (and probably even more men) want women to have access to this pill, it should be made available.

But, if ever I reach a point where my sex drive is very low, I wouldn't take a daily brain-altering pill to try and boost it. I don't take any pills though, never have.

Is this a good thing or simply the latest chapter in the highly-profitable "just take a pill, honey" files?

[Duchess]

Is this a good thing or just the latest chapter in the highly-profitable "just take a pill, honey" files?

I'm not viewing it as a good thing, I might have a different take on it if I had a low libido but right now I see it simply as "just take a pill, honey" and I've been pretty vocal on how I regard that mindset.

Like you, I don't take any pills either. The only thing prescribed to me is my epi-pen.

[Cutz]

I think there's plenty of women who'd like the drug.

[crash]

In my experience, if a woman reached a point where she is too emotionally or physically drained to want to have sex, the last thing she wants is some asshole patronising her by saying 'just take a pill, honey'.

If her libido was suffering due to hormonal imbalance, then I think it would be better to treat the cause, rather than using a risky drug that only temporarily fixes the symptoms. If it's a psychological issue affecting libido, then the same applies.

If she's just not into you anymore, then slipping her one of these pills to get her in the sack is legally and morally questionable, yes, I'm looking at you, MS..

[Midwest Spy]

^ being good-looking has had its advantages in life.

One of which being the frequency in which women have wanted to give MS a turn at the amusement park.

Long story short.

Haven't needed to be Bill Cosby or Darren Sharper.

[Cutz]

If her libido was suffering due to hormonal imbalance, then I think it would be better to treat the cause, rather than using a risky drug that only temporarily fixes the symptoms.

Medications can have a side effect of decreased sex drive. Anti-depressants, birth control, even script painkillers and allegy meds. So hypothetically, you could stop taking your birth control to treat your libido issue, but then your high libido could lead to pregnancy. Probably not what women are looking for.

Obviously you want every drug to have as few side effects as possible, but if women think the chance at a little higher libido is worth the risk, then let them take it. I would hate to see a man forcing it down a woman's throat, but I'm used to strong willed females, so my reality is skewed that way. I think it's a great thing.

[Cutz]

Just to add on, I'd have to seriously research the studies, and probably see more post-trial stats as well, before I'd recommend it to any women I knew. "Side Effects" can be a very broad category. "May cause urination, falling down stairs, death, and pregnancy." Ok, which of those are from the drug itself, and which are from people on the drug having shit happen. I just support the availability of products people seriously want, and if they choose to use the products with warning labels all over them, then it's their own risk. If they get enjoyment from it, great. Lawyers don't need to sue over everything.

The FDA is not interested in saving lives. They're interested in not killing people. The difference may seem subtle, but in reality it's huge. If a new drug could save 10% of cancer patients in stage 4, but would actually kill 5% before their time, the FDA would not approve it. Nobody can sue the gov't for cancer, but 5% of patients families could sue them for approving a drug which killed their family member. So the FDA isn't interested in doing the most good, they're interested in minimizing their liability.

And besides, there's plenty of harmful drugs out there on the market today. Xanax is called a fucking anxiety pill. ANXIETY! "Oh, you're feeling anxious? Here, take this tranquilizer." That's hardcore drug culture right there! "Oh, does that coke have you too high? Here, take this sedative to mellow you out." Why not just walk into your local liquor store and say, "Whatya got for anxiety?" I mean, it's more socially acceptable to take a pill than to drink a fifth of Jack Daniels while you're at work, but either way, I DON'T WANT TO DRIVE NEXT TO YOU ON THE HIGHWAY!

(Ok, I might not be able to post anymore in this thread with rants like this. I might need some Addyi just to lower my blood pressure.)

[HairOfTheDog]

If this pill does what it's supposed to do and women who want it accept the side effects, I think it should be made available.

But, it's concerning to me that it's a daily pill, not "as needed" like Viagra, and yet has a side-effect that could interfere with motor skills enough to make regular activities like driving or taking the stairs dangerous for the woman and those around her.

Hopefully, the tests will show that Flibanserin only causes "unpredictable fainting" extremely rarely or in women with specific underlying medical conditions.

[username]

If I listened to the list of potential side effects of allergy medicine, I'd never take another allergy pill again. It's amazing that people take ANY medications when you hear the radio/t.v. announcer start rattling off the list of possible side effects.

I'm okay that it's becoming available. I heard one woman on the radio prattling on about what a difference it had made for her.

Still, I'm no sexpert but as I understand it, the male drugs basically focus on the dick itself and increasing blood flow. I don't know why they couldn't just send a nice rush/tickle to a woman's clit that got her juices flowing. I've made the mistake of starting to masturbate (or using a vibrator) and then having to quit and it is NOT a pleasant feeling being all worked up like that and wishing no one was around so you could hump the washing machine on spin cycle or sit on the gear shift in your car...anything.

I know it's a mental hang up for some women but...I still think they should have aimed for something that targeted the girl parts as opposed to the brain. Sheesh.

[sally]

I've never taken any pills other than pain killers a few times. I wouldn't even take the Prednisone they prescribed me for that pinched nerve in my neck that I thought was a brain tumor, I just dealt with it until it went away on it's own. Low libido is not that big of a concern to me to take pills for it.

[Mohammed]

Coke was discovered in Germany, E was developed in Darmstadt, now this one coming from close by Ingelheim. No wonder we started this whole rave culture, all the good shit is discovered in Germany, so it can't be that bad. Fainting at unpredictable times? Fuck yeah! Sounds like E to me!

[Maggot]

In a year the lawyers will be advertising settlement claims for anyone that used the pill and had side effects that threatened their motor skills making left hand turns and parallel parking.

[Duchess]

I sometimes wonder how some of the drugs today even get approved.

[ramseycat]

I don't need a pill. I just need FU.

[Mohammed]

I sometimes wonder how some of the drugs today even get approved.

What you talking about? Blessed be the times before the 60's when Coke was the original and true Red Bull found on any decent supermarket shells and Amphetamines were prescription multivitamins.