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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
The first oral treatment for impotence, has changed the way men view problems with sexual performance. Today, men are more inclined to define and treat their performance problems as medicaJ problems than ever before, thanks in large part to Viagra. Perhaps as a result of Viagra's success, as both a pharmaceutical product and as a cultural phenomenon, there is a now a burgeoning range of rival therapies for the treatment of impotence. Two such therapies recently received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for prescription use: Cialis, an impotence treatment drug developed by the pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and ICOS Corporation, and Levitra, another pharmaceutical option being launched by Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline.1 Like Viagra, both drugs treat impotence by increasing blood flow to the genitals under conditions of sexual arousal, thereby enabling the achievement and maintenance of a "normal" erection.2 Their advent thus reflects an increasingly medicalized way of thinking about men's sexual problems and their treatment Medi-calization occurs when areas of life not previously considered medical are redefined as problems requiring medical analysis and management (Conrad and Schneider 1980). Impotence, or what health experts call "erectile dysfunction," has become one such example, with impotence medication exemplifying this trend (Mamo and Fishman 2001). At present, Viagra, the blockbuster drug marketed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, dominates the impotence treatment market, vastly outselling alternative therapies, including penile implants, vacuum pumps, injectibles, and suppositories into the urethra. The drug, which annually generates $1.5 billion in sales for Pfizer, has been used by over twenty million men worldwide, easily making it one of the most popular prescription drugs in recent history (Doonar 2003). Available for prescription use only since 1998, Viagra has already become a household word synonymous with treating impotence. However, with new drugs now entering the market, Viagra's status as the treatment of choice appears less certain. According to industry analysts, the emergence of Cialis and Levitra marks the first serious challenge to Viagra's control over the antiimpotence market 3 (Gannon 2003). Whether the makers of Cialis and Levitra can mount a challenge strong enough to rival Viagra wilt depend on the marketing
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