Ten years ago, Viagra (Rated Rx: Viagra Turns 10 - Focus, March 22) for the first time offered an effective, simple, well-tolerated treatment for men with problems achieving erections.
There is a small cohort of crotchety critics, such as those cited in this article. Trent University's Barbara Marshall is a sociologist who doesn't seem to realize how important the ability to function sexually is to men's lives and self-identity as men. We are told that she "studies the impact of Viagra, calls it the McDonaldization of sex." No, treating erectile dysfunction doesn't trivialize sex. But comparing those treatments to Big Macs does.
Dr. Joel Lexchin sets up a straw man: "Do we want 50-year-old men to behave like 20-year-old men all the time?" No, we want 50-year-old men with medical conditions - and their partners - to be able to restore vitally important intimacy in their relationships.
Balance is important in any public discussion of prescription medicines, but in the case of Viagra and the erectile dysfunction that followed it, the facts are powerfully positive.