Drugs companies 'hype-up female libido problems' - Telegraph

Drugs companies knowingly exaggerate the problem of a vanishing female sex drive for the sake of a profit, an academic claims today. Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Ray Moynihan said pharmaceutical firms were guilty of wrongly giving the impression that "hypoactive sexual desire disorder" was widespread. Mr Moynihan, a broadcaster and lecturer at Newcastle University in Australia, said companies funded surveys designed to suggest the problem affected large numbers of women, and also took a lead in "educating" professionals and the public about it. For example, he said a Pfizer-funded course for US doctors claimed that up to 63 per cent of women had sexual dysfunction and it went on to suggest taking testosterone and Viagra as a treatment. But he said studies later showed that using Viagra for such a purpose had no effect.

By comparison, Mr Moynihan said scientific studies of the prevalence of the condition, conducted without industry funding, questioned whether the disorder was widespread.

He warned: "The drug industry shows no signs of abandoning plans to meet the unmet need it has helped to manufacturer."

However, in an accompanying editorial Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, a London-based specialist in psychosexual medicine, said: "His argument that female sexual dysfunction is an illness constructed by pathologising doctors under the influence of drug companies will fail to convince clinicians who see women with sexual dysfunction, or their patients."

She added: "Faced with a woman in tears whose libido has disappeared and who is terrified of losing her partner, doctors can feel immense pressure to provide an immediate, effective solution."

via telegraph.co.uk

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