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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nation’s drug-safety watchdog, approved the three main erection drugs as “safe.” But are they? Not quite.According to a recent study of erection medication side effects during the decade from 1998 (the year Viagra was approved) through 2007, Viagra has been implicated in at least 1,824 deaths mostly from heart attacks. Cialis (approved in 2003) has been linked to 236 deaths, and Levitra (2003) to 121. In addition, the three medications appear to have caused or significantly contributed to at least 2,500 nonfatal heart attacks and other potentially serious heart problems, and more than 25,000 other potentially serious side effects, among them: mini-strokes, vision loss, and hearing loss.So how can the FDA call them safe? And what can men do to protect themselves?How Safe Is “Safe”?Before the FDA approves new drugs, the agency requires manufacturers to submit safety studies that identify side effects. For erection medications, the studies were reassuring—nothing worse than low rates of minor annoyances:• Headache: 10-15% (depending on the drug and dose)• Stomach upset: 4-10%• Flushing: 2-11%• Back pain: 2-6%• Nasal congestion: 2-4%• Blurred vision: 2-3%• Flu-like symptoms: 2-3%But the dirty little secret of safety studies presented to the FDA is that subject pools number just a few thousand. If a drug kills, say, one person in 150,000, that side effect is unlikely to show up during pre-approval trials. But if the drug becomes a hit and millions use it, you’re looking at dozens of funerals.After approval, with increased use, new side effects turn up regularly. As a result, within five years of drug approvals, the FDA insists that manufacturers expand the side effects and warnings sections of their package inserts for half of new drugs. Erection medications’ official list of side effects has been updated several times as new side effects have turned up.Nitrate NightmareIn 1998, soon after Viagra’s release triggered a worldwide stampede, the bodies started dropping. Turned out that the combination of Viagra and nitrate medication—most notably nitroglycerin for treatment of angina—caused a rapid, potentially fatal drop in blood pressure.Angina is a form of heart disease caused by
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