‘Female Viagra’ is Close to FDA Approval Despite Serious Side Effects

As if there are not already way too many highly substandard pharmaceutical drugs on the market: now along comes ‘female Viagra.’ This same drug, while in the testing phase, has already been rejected by the FDA twice since 2010. Nevertheless, the FDA almost always follows the advice of its appointed experts, so it is expected to be fully approved soon despite serious side effects.

“To approve this drug will set the worst kind of precedent – that companies that spend enough money can force the FDA to approve useless or dangerous drugs,” said, Dr Adriane Fugh-Berman of Georgetown University, the New York Times reported. [1]

When academic experts such as Dr. Fugh-Berman, however, speak out so strongly against such ill-advised approvals, there can be only one reason. The fox, as usual, must be guarding the hen house at the FDA. In other words, the male-dominated pharmaceutical industry has enough representatives working for the FDA, that drug safety issues for women have been relegated to the priority of future profits earned by Big Pharma.

It’s clear that women have been slighted by the FDA since the introduction of “the pill” back in 1960. For 55 years, many women and teenage girls have suffered unknowingly from many of the negative side effects caused by that oral contraceptive.

For some, the harmful effects have been immediate and life-altering; for most, however, they occur over many years if not decades. Only now have we come to understand that a lifetime of taking “the pill” has taken a great toll on the health of the women of the world.

Just How Bad Is It?

Also known as Flibanserin, ‘female Viagra’ clearly has a long way to go in order to be made available for broad use by the unsuspecting public.

“The experts backed flibanserin, but said it must carry warnings about strong possible side effects including fainting and tiredness.” [1]

Any drug that causes fainting is obviously unfit for human consumption. Were a user to get behind the wheel after taking flibanserin, not only would she put her own life at risk, but she would be endangering every other driver and vehicle that she shares the road with. Apparently, the folks at the FDA don’t consider fainting all that serious in 2015 and beyond. (Granted, in this example, there may be a warning to not operate any machinery after taking the medication.)

Read: 10 Bizarre Medication Side Effects

Whenever the endocrine system is affected by a pharmaceutical medication that is strong enough to impact sex glands, there will be unintended consequences elsewhere in the body. Quite unfortunately for those trusting individuals who will incorporate ‘female Viagra’ into their regular drug routine, they will probably be unaware of those adverse side effects … until it’s too late.

Is a real women’s group behind the supposed lobbying for its approval, or was it set up as a sock puppet by the drug’s developer?

“Lobbying by the drug’s developer, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, was aided by the women’s rights group Even the Score, which has accused the FDA of gender bias by approving a number of drugs treating erectile dysfunction in men without passing an equivalent for women.” [1]

Even the Score has all the markings of a fictitious women’s group; otherwise, why would they misguidedly press for the premature release of a patently dangerous drug? The entire female half of the population is potentially being put at great risk, to the extent that many try it, of course.

Conclusion

When the primary regulatory body of the USA fails to make sensible decisions which will protect the health and welfare of the citizenry, they have outlived their usefulness. The pharmaceutical drug culture, which evolved over many decades, is simply far too complex for the layperson to understand all the potential problems and serious complications.

Dangerous drug interactions alone boggle the minds of research toxicologists working for Big Pharma, so how can they expect the uneducated public to understand or perceive them?

Sources:

[1] BBC

Photo credit: BBC