From The Hastings Center: Three years ago, a pharmaceutical company created and funded a feminist group called Even the Score to campaign for FDA approval of the drug Addyi for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, a condition previously created to sell another drug. In 2015, the FDA approved Addyi; the drug turned out to be highly ineffective and potentially dangerous.
“Itâs sad to see advocacy groups become mouthpieces for pharma. It is even sadder when those mouthpieces are feminist groups that should be protecting the interest of women but instead are protecting a companyâs bottom line. Every single one of the advocacy groups that donât take money from pharmaceutical companies opposed Addyiâs approval and use. For example, the National Womenâs Health Network, the Jacobs Institute for Womenâs Health, the National Center for Health Research, the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, and the New View campaign all publicly opposed the drug before and after approval. ‘This decision to approve flibanserin is a triumph of marketing over science,’ said Cindy Pearson, head of the National Womenâs Health Network.”
