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Viagra potency pill is proving a hit with women too WASHINGTON (April 29, 1998 00:56 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - Viagra, praised as a miracle potency drug for men, is also finding a market among women, doctors and analysts said Tuesday. Nearly 150,000 prescriptions for the first pill for impotence have been written for the drug since it went on the market in the United States this month. Many men with sexual problems say it has offered them a new lease on life. But doctors and pharmacists say they are getting plenty of queries from women as well -- and many are not asking on behalf of their partners. "A lot of women are interested," said Dr. Myron Murdoch, a urologist in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is national medical director for the Impotence Institute of America. "If you think there's a big demand for male sexual dysfunction medicine, wait until women find out they can have some sort of sexual dysfunction medicine." In commercial terms, Pfizer's drug is already a blockbuster. During its second week on the market, pharmacists sold more than 113,000 new prescriptions for Viagra, known generically as sildenafil. Hemant Shah, an independent drug analyst in New Jersey, said much of the demand was being driven by women. "They (pharmacists) are telling me they can't keep it in stock and that both men and women are using it," he said. Viagra is not approved for women. It was tested only in men and is designed to act as an "arousal enhancer," getting blood to the penis to help a man get an erection. "We get a lot of inquiries as to women. This is absolutely inappropriate," said Dr. James Barada, a urologist in Albany, New York, who helped draw up erectile dysfunction guidelines for the American Urological Association (AUA). "It's so far off-label that it's pathetic." But once a drug is approved, there is little to stop a doctor from writing an "off-label" or unapproved prescription for a woman, though Viagra's makers stress there is as yet no evidence of any good reason to do so. "This is a drug that has been approved for erectile dysfunction, which is obviously for men, and there is no scientific data to support its use in women," said Pfizer spokeswoman Mariann Caprino. Pfizer does have Phase II clinical safety tests under way in Europe in a group of women and some doctors see no reason not to prescribe the drug to women. Murdoch said the vagina and clitoris were made of the same tissue as the penis and a drug that improved blood flow in men would do the same in women. "Physiologically ... the clitoris is nothing more than a penis without a urethra," he said. The urethra carries urine and sperm in men. "The drugs we are using for male sexual dysfunction, these drugs will be effective in causing increased blood flow in the vagina and in the clitoris, so that women who have lack of lubrication, we can improve that." Murdoch said doctors could use drugs, including Viagra, to help women who were worried about losing interest in sex. "Women who have arousal problems, we can stimulate that. The male hormone testosterone can improve desire in women." That could help relationships in general, he said. "If you can do all this, it certainly should lead to an improvement in sexual relationships between men and women." By MAGGIE FOX, health and science correspondent Copyright 1998 Nando.net Copyright 1998 Reuters News Service janet paterson 51/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac almonte/ontario/canada - [log in to unmask]