FDA deliberates over new “Viagra for women” whose name alone decreases my sex drive

It really does have the most unsexy name ever: Flibanserin. You can’t even shorten it to make it more appealing. (Nothing gets me hotter than some *moan*…flib.)
Anyway, the Food and Drug Administration is in the process of deciding whether to put the new drug on the market. Unlike the actual trial Viagra pill for women, which increases blood flow to our lady parts, flibberflabbin restores women’s libido by changing the chemicals in our brain like anti-depressants do. In fact, it was originally meant to be an anti-depressant:

Scientists found that flibanserin, developed as an antidepressant, was ineffective for treatment of depression. But the drug appeared to produce an unexpected side effect: boosting women’s libido. That prompted the company to study it for hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD, an otherwise unexplained loss of sexual thoughts, fantasies and desire that can cause significant emotional distress. Some research suggests 10 percent of women may suffer from HSDD.
“It’s not that they are averse to sex. It’s just that they don’t care about it. They just stop thinking about it,” said Anita H. Clayton, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia who has studied the drug for the company. “It’s like a switch has been flipped. It’s a loss for them. They miss it. And they want it back.”

Now I am happy to see the medical industry paying attention to women’s sexual needs for a change, and I know flanoglobin could do a great service for many folks who have lost their sex drive, but let’s not forget this is a pharmaceutical company we’re talking about. I just can’t help being wary, including dread what the messaging will be around the drug once on the market — just look at what my google image search brought up on it already (the biblical light rays beaming out of the Pink Woman Power Pill is my favorite by far):
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And it begins.

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