Stardate 20010615.1213 (On Screen): Inability to achieve erection or to keep it can be emotionally devastating for a man. All men have this happen at one time or another, but for some men it becomes the normal state of affairs, and it is deeply demoralizing. It's lead to suicides. So the development of new drugs to help these guys out is obviously going to be big business, if the drugs really do work and work well. Everyone knows, of course, about Viagra, which is already one of the most widely used prescription drugs there is. Now a number of new treatments are coming.
One of the ones described in this article disturbs me greatly. It is a cream which a man would rub on his penis, which would enhance blood flow. That part's fine, as long as he wears a condom. But some men aren't going to because they're not going to want to admit to their sexual partners that they're using a chemical aid, and if a man uses a cream like this and then has sex without a condom, his partner will be exposed to the drug, too. Just how would a cream like this affect a woman if she's exposed to it on the inside of her vagina? Or her anus? (And then there's fellatio. I suppose that could be solved by making the stuff taste really bitter. But there's still the potential for oral ingestion.)
There's no way that stern labeling will solve this problem. (It's not as if men haven't been lying to their sexual partners as long as there's been language with which to communicate such lies.) So the VP of Paranoia at that drug company (or the FDA investigators) had better make sure that this cream cannot harm women if their male partners are using it and not using condoms. All in all, I think pills are a better answer. (discuss)
