--- title: FDA Panel Votes in Favor of "Female Viagra" description: Whether flibanserin receives official approval remains to be seen canonical: https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-04T21:49:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:21.246Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Panel Votes in Favor of 'Female Viagra' og:description: Whether flibanserin receives official approval remains to be seen og:url: https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Panel Votes in Favor of 'Female Viagra' twitter:description: Whether flibanserin receives official approval remains to be seen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FDA Panel Votes in Favor of 'Female Viagra' > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra' [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qC7XnlGd.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-06-01. The FDA is discussing this week the approval of flibanserin, a drug that treats low libido in women_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 4, 2015 9:49 PM UTC  A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. Allen Breed—AP by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 4, 2015 9:49 PM UTC An FDA advisory panel on Thursday [voted](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/business/panel-backs-a-drug-to-increase-womens-sex-drive.html) 18 to 6 in support of approving a drug that would help to increase libido in women who lack sexual desire. The panel said the drug, flibanserin, should be approved if measures are taken to deal with side effects, the New York _Times_ reports. The FDA will use the panel’s decision as a recommendation. Flibanserin, which is owned by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, has been rejected by the FDA in the past. The drug is meant for women with low sexual desire, specifically Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), and many advocates for the drug’s approval have argued that women don’t have any drugs to treat sexual dysfunction while men have several. The FDA has had previous concerns about the drug’s side effects, which include nausea, sleepiness and, in rare cases, low blood pressure and fainting. The drug is thought to work by targeting neurotransmitters in the brain involved with sexual desire. It temporarily lowers serotonin levels and raises the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. Some have argued that its benefit is slight. “I think it would be nice if a drug like this could work, having better sex is important to my patients,” Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive services at Yale School of Medicine, [told TIME on Monday](http://time.com/3903222/women-viagra-fda-drug/?xid=tcoshare). “The earlier results showed it definitely increased desire, but the benefit was not overwhelming enough.” But those who lack sexual desire said it’s worth it. Thursday’s meeting included about two hours of public testimony. Katherine Campbell, a married mother from Indiana who has not yet tried out the drug, said “critics say the improvement might only be modest, but oh what I would give for even a modest improvement.” Whether the drug will receive approval is yet to be seen. [_Read Next: Will the New ‘Women’s Viagra’ Finally Get FDA Approval?_](http://time.com/3903222/women-viagra-fda-drug/?xid=tcoshare) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/"},"headline":"FDA Panel Votes in Favor of 'Female Viagra'","datePublished":"2015-06-04T21:49:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:21.246Z","description":"Whether flibanserin receives official approval remains to be seen","url":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/","keywords":["medicine","Sex","FDA","Viagra"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.","caption":"A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.","creditText":"Allen Breed—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/","name":"FDA Panel Votes in Favor of 'Female Viagra'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra'","description":"The FDA is discussing this week the approval of flibanserin, a drug that treats low libido in women","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qC7XnlGd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-01T19:37:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qC7XnlGd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3910040/fad-advisory-panel-female-viagra-flibanserin/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```