LAT/AP: Pfizer: Viagra Doesn't Cause Blindness

[DeepModem Mom]

Pfizer: Viagra Doesn't Cause Blindness


NEW YORK -- Pfizer Inc. said that a review concluded that Viagra doesn't increase patients' risk of blindness but that it is still working with federal regulators to update the drug's label to reflect rare reports of vision loss.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had 38 reports of blindess caused by a a condition called NAION or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy among users of Viagra.

But Pfizer said it conducted a review of all post-marketing ocular event reports has concluded that there is no evidence of increased risk of blindness among patients taking Viagra.

While the FDA has concluded that no causal relationship between Viagra and NAION has been established, Pfizer has agreed to include on the Viagra label that these reports exist in order to inform physicians and patients....

***

Pfizer said it is the company's understanding that the FDA has asked that similar information be included in the labels of all oral erectile dysfunction medicines. The FDA reported there were instances of NAION among those taking Cialis, which is made by Eli Lilly & Co. and ICOS Corp. as well as Levitra, which is marketed by Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Schering-Plough Corp....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top14jun28,0,2344695.story

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. It's in times like these I wish copycats were allowed in LBN

"Pfizer: Viagra Doesn't Cause Hairy Palms" :evilgrin:

[DeepModem Mom]

4. LOL!

[gratuitous]

2. Oh well, if Pfizer says its wildly profitable drug is safe

Who are we to argue? I mean, there's certainly no incentive for Pfizer to lie or fail to make a full disclosure of all its findings and testing on Viagra. Is there?

[nolabels]

7. Besides L.A. TIMES needs the advertising revenue

Why is it that people will sell out there own families for a fast buck anyway :shrug:

[gratuitous]

10. I'm sure the LA Times is still smarting from the loss of GM ad revenue

Remember a couple of months ago, when their automotive reviewer had the nerve to call GM's latest product rollout of 20 mpg crapmobiles a bunch of 20 mpg crapmobiles? GM went into immediate corporate snit and pulled their ads from the LA Times.

Message received by the Times: No more bad-mouthing the advertisers.

[nolabels]

23. I shouldn't comment on the papers financial situation

They say we still owe them twelve dollars. My wife took a call from somebody marketing the blasted thing, paid twelve bucks up front but they never delivered any paper to us. They kept on sending us letters that our payments were late after we left a few messages that we never received any paper yet. I called up the billing dept then after getting shot around to five or six people being put on hold each time let my anger dissipate a little. Then after all their softening up I fell for the "It's not our fault" line. They assured me I would get my paper from now on. So we got it delivered for three days and then it stopped.

I was kind of thinking par for course. We were just getting delivered on the weekend so I didn't call because I was kind of disgusted that it went back to same bullshit. We got another bill in the mail the other day for twelve more dollars that they say is late. So with that my wife called and canceled the subscription. She said she isn't paying after they gave her a bunch of B.S about not calling


Well I kind of thought I would like to pay them but haven't figured out how to package twelve dollars in PENNIES along with my note of disgust to send to them, but I am still contemplating the delivery method

[whistle]

3. Well, there you have it. Pfizer PR Dept. has issued its statement...

...so that is the end of discussion. :wtf:

[converted_democrat]

5. This is total BS.........

My husband has a friend that he grew up with that is a doctor. He gave my husband (among other gifts) a script for Viagra as a wedding gift for our honeymoon. He used the stuff and the next day when he woke up he was seeing everything in a weird blue hue. (Everything that was white or light colored he saw as blue cast.) My husband called his doctor friend and he said not to take it again, because it could indeed cause blindness. He said he had never heard of a reaction in a young person, so that was why he had felt safe in giving it to my husband. We ended up flushing the rest of the script.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Whoa! Thanks for posting this (scary) personal experience, cd. nt

[Marthe48]

6. just use it til you need glasses

n/t 8-)

[skooooo]

9. masturbation, on the other hand....

lol

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. no, it does not matter which hand you use

silly.

[skooooo]

13. wait, wait..

...a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?

[Dr.Phool]

12. My cousin took some a couple of years ago

But I guess his wife wasn't home. The next day he had a seperated shoulder!

[skooooo]

14. lmao nt

[zbdent]

16. You know, that's the one activity my mother never told me would

poke my eye out . . .

[Rockholm]

18. Which hand? The hairy one?

Sigh, yet another side effect of "relieving oneself." Would have said something else, but this could become a sex thread, and we all know what happens to them.

[lateo]

15. Thalidomide doesn't hurt babies!

[Jackpine Radical]

17. I just hate it when this happens.

Every one of the smartass remarks I intended to post in here was anticipated by somebody else.

[fishnfla]

19. Clever: technically this is true

It does not cause "blindness" by definition because NAION is a monocular event . It usually affects only one eye, so the person may lose vision but not be totally blind if the other eye is normal or unaffected. One person taking Viagra acquired NAION in both eyes and went completely blind.

More studies need to be done regarding this. Certain patients with heart or vascular disease may be at greater risk than others. Also the age group of men taking the drug may have an effect.

[uppityperson]

20. On the other hand...

[devilgrrl]

21. Yeah but isn't it a little difficult seeing out of the eye of the penis?

:shrug:

[dubyaD40web]

22. That's odd....the link changed to a Senate story.

Here's the only article I could find on LAT:

Viagra to Warn on Vision Loss

Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug maker, will change the label for its Viagra impotence pill to warn doctors about sudden vision loss that has occurred in some men who took the drug.

The Food and Drug Administration is asking all makers of impotence drugs to include similar warnings, New York-based Pfizer said in a statement Monday. No causal relationship has been made between Viagra and the condition, a type of eye stroke called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, Pfizer said.

Pfizer released its statement before a CBS News report that examined four years of FDA data on complications among Viagra users. The analysis found 800 reports of eye problems, including 140 cases of partial or total blindness, CBS said. Pfizer said its own review found no evidence of increased risk of blindness in people taking Viagra.

The label change "doesn't mean that Viagra poses a greater risk than it ever did," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management Co. in Tulsa, Okla., which manages about $25 million, including Pfizer shares. "It's just that the FDA is more on the alert. Ultimately, it's up to the FDA to figure out if there really is a link."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-viagra28jun28,1,6092530.story?ctrack=1&cset=true