--- title: After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra' | TIME description: The FDA approved Addyi, a drug whose maker claims it helps raise sexual desire in women. But it's been a long and controversial process. canonical: https://time.com/video/Zs5thHzC/ og:title: After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra' og:description: The FDA approved Addyi, a drug whose maker claims it helps raise sexual desire in women. But it's been a long and controversial process. og:url: https://time.com/video/Zs5thHzC/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Zs5thHzC/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra' twitter:description: The FDA approved Addyi, a drug whose maker claims it helps raise sexual desire in women. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra' [Watch (HLS stream): After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Zs5thHzC.m3u8) (1:07)  _Published 2015-08-19. The FDA approved Addyi, a drug whose maker claims it helps raise sexual desire in women. But it's been a long and controversial process._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:41 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The FDA Just Approved the First Drug for Postpartum Depression](/video/0zMw11Dm/) ### The FDA Just Approved the First Drug for Postpartum Depression [Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra'](/video/qC7XnlGd/) ### Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra' [FDA Approves Painkiller Designed To Deter Abuse](/video/Ymqv9uEa/) ### FDA Approves Painkiller Designed To Deter Abuse --- ## Transcript The FDA has approved a drug that's long been trumpeted as the female Viagra. The brand name is Addy and it's a non- hormonal pill that treats hypoactive sexual desire disorder in pre- menopausal women. Unlike Viagra though, the drug doesn't address a physical problem like erectile dysfunction. Instead it's thought to work on the nervous system, affecting desire itself. Addyi has been controversial for a long time. In 2010, it was rejected by the FDA. Major concerns included the benefits not being dramatic enough, the testing methods not being thorough enough, and a lack of consensus on the low- libido diagnosis it claims to treat. In my clinical practice of 15 years in general internal medicine, I've never met a woman That fulfills the formal diagnostic criteria for this disorder. Other critics have accused the drug maker of treating normal levels of sexual desire like the disease and of misusing feminist rhetoric in its marketing, while the company frames the drug as a breakthrough for women. I think this is absolutely an evolution in the female sexual revolution. Addy should be available by October of this year. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"After 2 Rejections, FDA Approves Drug Dubbed 'Female Viagra'","description":"The FDA approved Addyi, a drug whose maker claims it helps raise sexual desire in women. 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