Mirth Control
You might want to start repeating the word flibanserin. Just what is flibanserin?
The drug is still in the Phase 3 trial stages and far from being approved. Plus, there have been a lot of variables in results so far:
* The only public results available are for test subjects who took it for a period of 6 months
* Some participants maintained an increased sex drive - even after stopping treatments
* There were no real changes in European test subjects. (sacre bleu!)
* They still haven’t found a good, biological explanation for “sexual desire.” (you mean its not booze?)
As you can see flibanserin is far from ready. But that hasn’t stopped its makers Boehringer Ingelheim from promoting the hell out of it. This week, they organized a massive publicity push for the drug: press releases, webcasts, even a presentation at a European medical conference. There is a positive aspect to this marketing storm: incite discussion. But here’s what will probably happen: the media goes nuts talking about “the miracle female Viagra.” People won’t stop talking about the wonder drug, obsessively track it down, never research its side effects, and make it part of our daily lives before its even FDA approved. Personally speaking, I’m looking forward to the day when frustrated men start thinking it will fix all of their wives’ problems.
Maybe someday flibanserin will become part of our language. It could end up being as common as “Viagra.” It was a scientific marvel, and now its a punchline for bad stand-up comics. There’s nothing more fascinating than watching medical breakthroughs end up as jokes on Jersey Shore T-shirts (where comedy goes to die.)
