Apparently, the FDA is unimpressed by the test results for flibanserin, "a pill anticipated to become the first 'female Viagra,'" according to a CNN.com report.
The drug's manufacturer remains unsurprisingly optimistic. "We have conducted a robust program showing that flibanserin shows improvement increasing satisfying sexual events, in improving sexual desire and lowering distress," says Peter Piliero. Satisfying events? Lowering distress? Over-medicalization of sexuality, while understandable given our culture's tendency to turn every ailment into a disease, still troubles me.
Should female sexual dysfunction be treated medically? If low sex drive is troubling to the woman, of course! That we even consider low sex drive an issue worthy of resolution is, overall, a positive change from the old "it's all in her head" approach to "frigidity," or even worse, the expectation that women naturally don't (or shouldn't) enjoy sex.
However, the danger comes when we believe a pill (will this one be pink? please?) is the best or only solution. I worry that doctors and patients will be less likely to consider a range of treatment options--such as hormone monitoring and balancing, therapy, stress reduction, dietary changes, communicating effectively with one's sexual partner(s), to name a few. Availability of even a marginally effective "female Viagra" could pathologize normal variations in sex drive and permit doctors to resort to pill pushing rather than searching for root causes and offering varied, and possibly non-pharmaceutical, solutions.
But for frustrated women who feel they've already tried everything, I sincerely hope flibanserin, if it's safe, becomes available.
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