Listening to Prozac: What an Antidepressant Without "Anorgasmia" Is Telling Us
The FDA's approval of a new antidepressant, Viibryd (vilazodone), that has no significant sexual side effects can be taken as a criticism of the drug industry for paying no attention to the sex problems its products create. The drug, made and sold in a joint venture between Clinical Data (CLDA) and PGxHealth, is no better at treating depression than existing products. Its most interesting advantage can be found in these two sentences from two studies of Viibryd prior to its approval:
... there was no significant difference between placebo and vilazodone in terms of sexual dysfunction as measured by the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale.Big Pharma has a largely unexamined problem with depressants such as Eli Lilly (LLY)'s Prozac, Pfizer (PFE)'s Effexor, Forest Labs (FRX)'s Lexapro and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s Paxil: sexual dysfunction is more common among patients on antidepressants than is widely reported. This isn't just about depressed people not being in the mood. The side effect symptoms are horrific and sometimes persistent: ejaculatory anhedonia, erectile dysfunction, anorgasmia, "pleasureless orgasm" and "genital anaesthesia."There were no clinically significant differences for either gender in ASEX scores at end of treatment.
Those studies say that sexual dysfunction is thought to strike as between 36 and 70 percent of those who use antidepressants. If you assume that about 10 percent of Americans are on antidepressants at any one time, then about 23 million people currently have sex lives that are in ruins.
At the same time, drug companies such as Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Vivus (VVUS) have expended significant time and resources developing drugs for a sexual problem that may not exist: "Female Sexual Disorder." The FDA has approved none of those. Perhaps there's a message in there somewhere?
Related: