In this episode we look at the marketing and misuse of drugs for sexual dysfunction. The development and tremendous popularity of Viagra, among men young and old, is adding to the illusion that anything and anyone can be fixed with a pill.
A blue new world
Does Viagra's success surprise anyone? The United States is consumed by the attitude of bigger, stronger, and faster. And judging by the global popularity of the wonder drug, it seems as if we're not alone.
"Science is to be applauded for the introduction of Viagra, which removes so much pressure from the sex act," author Camille Paglia says. "It removes the performance anxiety from so many men in relationships. On the other hand, it is simply wrong to think that every human problem can be solved by taking a pill."
Remedies for sexual dysfunction are not new. The ancient Egyptians, for example, greatly valued sexual prowess and the aphrodisiacs they created to fight impotence. Today, roughly 30 million American men suffer from erectile dysfunction. However, not everyone is using Viagra in the way intended.
Shannon Williams is a strong, healthy young man who uses Viagra. Does he need to? No, but he chooses to because it combats the impotence created by his recreational drug use. He says, "I found, at least, coke obviously is one of those things. It's a very odd phenomena [in] that either it kind of affects you or it doesn't. If you do too much, you can't, you know -- it's very difficult to get an erection."
Guests- Dr. Cindy Meston, Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory
- Dr. CJ Scheiner, professor of erotology
Watch out Viagra, here comes Barbie
Unless you've lived in a cave for the past six years, you know that Viagra has taken the world of erectile dysfunction by storm. Since its debut, the little blue pill has earned billions for its maker, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. In 2001 alone Pfizer sold $1.7 billion worth of Viagra.
But what if there was one pill that made people tan, helped them lose weight, and improved cognitive abilities? Mac Hadley and his colleagues at the University of Arizona may have created just such a pill. They were trying to design a pill that would let people tan without sunbathing. After popping an experimental pill into his mouth, Hadley had an eight-hour erection.
He quickly sold the pill, which he dubbed Melanotan, to a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company named Palatin. In tests on animals Melanotan has shown an ability to curb appetite, stymie acne, control inflammation, and maybe combat diabetes. But perhaps even more important is that it may be used as a treatment for often ignored female sexual dysfunction.
Guests- Mac Hadley, Bob Dorr, creators of Melanotan, aka PT-141
- Annette Shadiak, Palatin
- Geoffrey Miller, evolutionary psychologist
'Psst, buddy, wanna buy an erection?'
Though the advent of Viagra was a fortuitous accident, the numbers show a strong need to remedy male erectile dysfunction. But how do you advertise such a powerful product in a world that already places unreasonable emphasis on sexual prowess?
"The Viagra thing is amazing," Dr. Al Cooper says. "And how much of that is being sold to people with erection problems, and how many people are buying it just to give them a performance or confidence boost? It's unfortunate people don't develop their own kind of self-confidence and ability to see that they can overcome some of these things, that the performance isn't the ultimate thing."
Pfizer spent $100 million on advertising and barraged the country with the magical power of the "little blue pill."
"There's an undercurrent of sexuality in almost every advertisement because it is an integral part of being human," says Jack Freurer, editor of Ad Week, an advertising industry journal. "And that's what advertising is designed to do -- to appeal to how human beings think and how they act, and what's important to them."
Even if Viagra didn't work quite as well as claimed, it probably would have succeeded because it's difficult to avoid the "Madison Avenue" factor. We're a society that seeks instant satisfaction and results (think minute rice and three-minute abs). Sometimes it seems like antidepressants are taken with more regularity than vitamins.
"Our culture is addicted to the quick fix. And I think that our philosophical understanding of human life is definitely diminishing," Camille Paglia warns.
Guests- Jack Freurer, editor, Ad Week
- Victor H. Ruby, co-creator of Melanotan, aka PT-141
- Camille Paglia, author
What goes up must come down
Viagra has been welcomed by the millions of men who weren't living sexually satisfying lives. However, as with most drugs, some people abuse the medication.
The use of Viagra as supplement to recreational drug use is becoming a problem. Viagra may be a danger to these users because it wasn't intended to circumvent the sexually hindering side effects of drugs such as cocaine, GHB, and crystal meth. To add a powerful substance to a system already inundated with chemicals is risky.
Pfizer recently issued statements to the gay media about the dangers of combining its product with poppers (amyl nitrate or butyl nitrite), a combination that can produce a dangerous drop in blood pressure. According to the FDA, six of the 39 US patients who have died after having taken Viagra had also taken a nitroglycerin or a nitrate medication.
Evidence suggests that Viagra's misuse is exacerbating the AIDS epidemic. "[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has begun studying Viagra's role in STDs in an effort to help address possible increased risk of HIV from Viagra use," said Dr. Harold Jaffe, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention. "Last month CDC reported that diagnoses of HIV rose 8 percent between 1999 and 2001. Among gay and bisexual men, HIV diagnoses increased 14 percent."
Additionally, some researchers have warned that Viagra could destroy penile tissue in healthy men, actually causing impotence.
Guests- Dr. Art Caplan, bioethicist
- Ray Kurzweil, futurist
- Dr. Carl Spana, Palatin
