Can I put in a good word for Viagra?

[hedgehog]

It's gotten a bad rep and a bad rap because many perfectly healthy men use it as an aphrodisiac. But, many men also use it temporarily or always to have any sexual function at all. One example: men in their 40's and 50's who develop prostate cancer will face surgery. After surgery, Viagra makes function possible. It sounds like the start of a dirty joke, but there is actually something called "penile rehabilitation". The emerging consensus is that the sooner any function can be restored, the more likely that natural function will follow. For many men, Viagra is what enables them to resume normal relations with th eone they love.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. You shouldn't have to...

it's an approved medicine to restore certain normal functions.

The way some people around here talk, a man with ED couldn't possibly have a partner who misses sex with him.

[sheshe2]

2. Sadly you should not have to put in a good word for BC either. It too covers medical issues.

In 2011, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that roughly 14 percent of birth control users rely on birth control exclusively for non-contraceptive purposes. Some 1.5 million women use birth control to help with medical issues such as ovarian cancer, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and endometrial cancer.

Guttmacher also found that more than 58 percent of all birth control users cite other medical issues in addition to pregnancy prevention, listing reasons such as reducing cramps or menstrual pain, preventing migraines and other menstruation side effects, and treating acne.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, for instance, affects about 5 million American women. The disorder, which entails irregular menstrual cycles that can last for months, can cause iron deficiency, anemia and infertility, and some women have found relief from contraceptive methods.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/hobby-lobby-birth-control_n_5543903.html

One gets covered now in some cases the other does not. That is not right.

[hedgehog]

5. I did not realize the percentage of people using birth control forn non-contraceptive

purposes was that high - 14%.

Still - it's no one's business why anyone uses any prescribed drug or equipment

Also - it's no one's business whether or not anyone is using a legal method of contraception

When the Pill first came out, there was a perception that young women were using it to "go wild" . ( Oddly enough, there was little concern over all the men now "going wild"!) Regardless of the truth, it's no one's business whether I am engaged in non-commercial sexual activity with a consenting adult or not. (I'll set aside any argument about prostitution for the moment.)

Maybe the mention of the 14% will win some people over, but I'm afraid it may lead to someone trying to cover birth control only for non-contraceptive purposes.

You're right - it' sad

[Ilsa]

7. I remember my Mother-in-law telling me how she went on The Pill.

She was 23 and had just had her third child. She was exhausted. Gaining control of her reproduction allowed her to go back to work full time and bring her family out of near-desperate financial hardship.

I've used the pill both contraception and to lessen opportunity for ovarian cysts forming.

[RandySF]

3. If people try to use it as an aphrodisiac, they're idiots.

Niether Viagra or Cialis make someone aroused, they just make it easier for the blood to make it's way to where it needs to be during intimate moments.

[gwheezie]

4. No one is taking Viagra away

No one is taking anyone to court to limit access to Viagra.
To me, what an adult and their doctor decide is a therapeutic treatment should be covered by insurance. Since women don't breed every year effectively preventing pregnancy is a part of healthcare.
Men taking Viagra is none of my business. I don't think it's an employers business either. Just as a woman I want the same consideration.

[safeinOhio]

6. $300 for 10 pills.

My great insurance does not cover it.

I start on Medicare in a few months, does it cover it? Just checked, it does not.

[Ilsa]

8. I don't think anyone really wants to take away coverage

for viagra or cialis, etc. These drugs are used in sexual rehabilitation, which is a good thing.

I think they keep getting mentioned because of the disparity of coverage by insurance between contraception and rehabiliation. The excuses offered for covering one and not the other smack of misogyny and discrimination.

BTW, pass the word along that doing pre-surgery kegel exercises can make a huge difference in recovering bladder control.