Enhancing women's libido through chemistry

Washington Post:

A panel of federal advisers will soon wrestle with a question that has bedeviled poets, philosophers and generations of frustrated men: What do women want?

That enigma will be part of a Food and Drug Administration committee's deliberations next month when it considers endorsing the first pill designed to do for women what Viagra did for men: boost their sex lives. A German pharmaceutical giant wants to sell a drug with the decidedly unsexy name "flibanserin," which has shown prowess for sparking a woman's sexual desire by fiddling with her brain chemicals.

Even before the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee meets June 18 to consider the request, the prospect of the drug's approval has triggered debate over whether the medication, like others in the pipeline, represents a long-sought step toward equity for women's health or the latest example of the pharmaceutical industry fabricating a questionable disorder to sell unnecessary -- and potentially dangerous -- drugs.

"Achieving a happy and healthy sex life can be a real and important problem for some women," said Amy Allina of the National Women's Health Network, a Washington-based advocacy group. "But we have lots of questions about the 'pink Viagra.' "

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I doubt this will be a blockbuster drug like Viagra, but some women may find it helpful. If so, they should go for it. If it is sold over the counter, I suspect that men may be the biggest customers, putting in with their Valentine gifts. Another concern would be its use as a date rape drug.