The government on
Friday ordered warnings onto the labels of Viagra and
two other impotence drugs that some users have developed a
form of blindness--while cautioning that it's
impossible to know if the pills are to blame. At issue
is sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic
nerve is blocked, a condition called NAION, or nonarteritic
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. NAION is
considered one of the most common causes of sudden
vision loss in older people, with anywhere from 1,000 to
6,000 cases a year. Moreover, risk factors include diabetes
and heart disease, two of the leading causes of
impotence.
The Food and Drug
Administration has 43 reports of NAION among the
impotence drug users: 38 for Viagra, four for Cialis, and
one for Levitra. They include varying degrees of
vision loss, including blindness.
Those are rare
numbers, given that Viagra alone has been used by 23
million men worldwide since its approval in 1998, according
to its maker, Pfizer.
"It is not
possible to determine whether these oral medicines for
erectile dysfunction were the cause" or whether other health
conditions triggered NAION in the men, the FDA said in a
statement Friday. In addition to heart disease and
diabetes, NAION risk factors include being over age
50, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and
smoking.
But the FDA
advised patients to stop taking the pills and call a doctor
if they experience sudden or decreased vision loss in one or
both eyes--and to tell their doctor if they have ever
suffered an episode of sudden vision loss, because
such patients are at increased risk of a second
episode.
Studies have
shown that gay men are more likely than their heterosexual
peers to have tried or to regularly use erectile dysfunction
drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. The drugs are
also commonly taken by users of such illegal party
drugs as crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy to help
counter erection-inhibiting effects of the drugs or to
prolong erections to allow sexual encounters with
multiple partners. (AP, with additional reporting by
Advocate.com)
Charlie Kirk DID say stoning gay people was the 'perfect law' — and these other heinous quotes