Dr Petra on the ongoing Flibanserin saga
(Which I have not been updating with because her blog address has changed - I've raised a support request to change the DW feed to reflect this).
Is low sexual desire in women a disease? No it’s not. But drug company are seeking FDA approval for a drug to ‘cure’ women nonetheless.
FDA Committee hearing on Flibanserin tomorrow (18 June) - how you can keep up with the meeting
FDA advisory panel rejects Flibanserin:
There are, however, lessons to be learned from the media’s approach to this case. Journalists in the main did not investigate the claims made by scientists such as myself about the marketing of Flibanserin, the approaches by Boeringher Ingelheim took to medical education, or the quality of the research. Indeed many journalists said they couldn’t find the research - and that’s because Boeringher Ingelheim did not publish it in any peer reviewed journal. This alone should have rung major warning bells for journalists but generally didn’t. So we need to be aware that while there is now some critical coverage about the medicalisation of sexuality there is also a long way to go to get journalists to ask basic questions about drug company funded research in this area. It’s important the media gets better at this because, aside from getting better stories to cover, the focus on finding a pill to fix female sex problems won’t go away.
And, for the commercialisation of male anxieties around sexual functioning: Your chance to help this Men’s Health Week - challenge the Advanced Medical Institute
They use particularly emotive and distressing techniques to get men to place an order. I have heard taped conversations with staff from AMI and read transcripts of calls. If men hesitate over purchasing their products AMI staff tell them their wives will leave them or have affairs if they do not buy their products. Salespeople tell men their partners are lying if they’ve not complained about the situation or have been supportive of them. Men are also told they are ‘losers’ for having psychosexual problems. Medics working for the company tell men not to talk to their GP and advise their GP’s won’t know about the products AMI offer and don’t fully understand men’s psychosexual problems. They also wrongly advise men there is no help for psychosexual problems on the NHS. Men who have had experiences with the company have complained of inadequate medical history taking or staff not taking account of existing health problems such as epilepsy.
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