Bigger and Better: How Pfizer Redefined Erectile Dysfunction

Abstract:  An important emerging issue in health care is the availability of medications to treat what until recently have been regarded as the natural results of aging or as part of the normal range of human emotions. Thus, we now see treatments widely advertised for male pattern baldness and shyness. Deviating even further, drug therapy is moving out of treating diseases to providing enhancements to what had hitherto been seen as normal functioning. This evolution in the use of medications has introduced dilemmas and controversies about what are legitimate conditions and treatments for those concerned with prescription medications: is any deviation from normality fair game for treatment? What about people who have nothing medically wrong with them, but just want to feel better? Who will pay for these therapies, and what are the implications for the way we use health-care resources? Medica tions that embody these controversies are generally referred to as lifestyle drugs and perhaps the best known of these is sildenafil citrate (Viagra) This article will examine the strategies used by Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, to ensure that the drug was seen as legitimate therapy for almost any man. Pfizer took steps to make sure that Viagra was not relegated to a niche role of just treating men who had ED due to organic causes, such as diabetes or prostate surgery. Citation : Lexchin J (2006) Bigger and Better: How Pfizer Redefined Erectile Dysfunction. PLoS Med 3(4): e132. doi:10.1371/journal. pmed.0030132