Female Viagra pill no better than placebo

A PILL dubbed the female Viagra gives only ‘marginal’ benefits – and causes tiredness, nausea and dizziness, a study has concluded.

Flibanserin, which is meant to restore flagging libido in women, was launched last year to huge fanfare. But scientists say trials of the drug show it works little better than a placebo.

Sold under the brand name Addyi, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last year as a treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder – thought to affect 10 to 40% of women – following two previous rejections.

But the report, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands says the risks of taking flibanserin outweigh its minimal benefits. The team reviewed eight trials involving nearly 6,000 women and found that women who took the drug had an average of just one extra satisfying sexual experience every two months compared with women who took a placebo.

They were also about four times more likely to experience dizziness and sleepiness, more than twice as likely to experience nausea and around 60% more likely to experience fatigue.

However pharmaceutical firm Valeant, which owns flibanserin, insisted the drug is effective.

Drugs have to be licensed by the European Medicines Agency before they can be sold here.

Last night Valeant said ‘no decisions have been made yet about filings for Addyi in Europe.’