Vivus Case Study Summary

In 1996, Vivus, a pharmaceutical company sought approval from the FDA for Alista, a topical cream to potentially eradicate the disease of Female Sexual Dysfunction or FSD in women. Vivus describes FSD to have symptoms such as lack of desire, lack of pleasure and pain during sexual intercourse. According to their affiliated medical professionals, 43% of women ages 18-59 have the “disease” of FSD. This orgasm cream idea stemmed from the fact that Viagra was created for men who experienced difficulty getting erections. In fact,
Stephens, the manager of clinical research for Vivus claims she actually has no concrete definition for FSD. In order to create a need for their FSD cream, Vivus needed to create a definition. They called FSD a “disease,”
On a personal level, Canner was abruptly banned from the Alista success reveal meeting, yet still made her way into finding out the results. She realized that Alista was not as successful as expected and that patients became more sexually aroused from visual stimulation than the actual cream. However, Vivus still promoted the drug as a being a breakthrough. Clinical trials funded by pharmaceutical companies have 3-5 times the odds of reporting favorable outcomes than those funded by other sources. Because Vivus was failing to present reliable and successful outcomes, they did not wish to be interviewed about Alista anymore. After getting turned down by the FDA for their testosterone patch Instrinsa, the European Union approves the drug as Vivus continues to test a testosterone spray for women

Women are participating in surgical procedures via plastic surgery to tighten and enhance their reproductive sites to appear much younger. The vaginal tissue is extremely vascular; once it begins to bleed, it is difficult to sustain the bleeding. Women are undergoing these high risk surgeries to “fix” or “cure” a disease that is being presented to them with a negative light. The patient from the video confided that she lost about 1/3
Our culture makes women self-conscious and uncomfortable with who they really are.
According Dr. Bennett, Canner’s OBGYN, society thinks all issues should be treated by taking a pill. Therefore, if society constantly makes women feel like they should have an orgasm each time they have sexual intercourse, women will always think something is wrong with them if this outcome does not occur. This is where pharmaceutical companies took advantage of this self-disapproval and began promoting drug after drug to “cure the disease” of FSD when, in fact, it is completely normal for an orgasm to not occur solely during sexual intercourse. If society promoted the concept that FSD is a normal part of aging and that it is not a disease, then these healthy women will not feel the need to take any pill or implant any device that will still, not guarantee orgasms to occur.
Drug industries are expanding old diseases and creating new, non-existent diseases to increase the profit for their companies. Sadly, various medical professionals are on the payroll for these companies and receive commission from promoting FSD drugs even though they know this is not a true disease. For instance, Charletta is a clinical