Viagra Lawsuit Attorneys

In 1998 the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer released a breakthrough drug.  Viagra gave hope to millions of men who were suffering from erectile dysfunction; until that time there was little to nothing on the market that could help with their problem.  The drug was immediately popular surging into homes around the country not only through prescriptions, but also via pop culture.  It was featured on many different shows, ads, and news programs helping Pfizer bring in nearly $30 billion in the year 2000 (more than double their revenue for 1998).  But the drug was not completely safe from the start.

When a person wants to move a part of their body, the brain sends a signal to the muscle in that area.  The muscle contracts or relaxes, and that area of the body moves.  However, the penis does not contain muscles the same way the rest of the body does.

Instead, the penis moves (becomes erect) through pressurization.  When the penis is in its limp form, the arteries that supply blood to the two main “caverns” are constricted, not allowing blood to flow into the penis.  In order to relax these arteries, the brain needs to send a signal that relaxes the muscles around the arteries.  To do so a complex series of chemical reactions is set in motion.  As the arteries relax, blood flows into the penis and “pressurizes” it in order to produce an erection.

When the brain sends the signal that the man is no longer aroused, the chemicals return to normal and the muscles around the arteries again contract.  This contraction cuts off the blood to the penis, and the blood subsequently drains through the veins.

Basically speaking the way a man becomes aroused is when the arteries open up allowing blood to flow into the penis.  When someone is suffering from erectile dysfunction, the arteries and veins are not functioning properly, thus not allowing the blood to flow into the penis.

Before Viagra the only way to open up the arteries (that is to relax them so blood can flow through) was by injection.  Injecting a smooth muscle relaxant into the area would cause the arteries to relax their constriction, and thus allow the blood to flow into the penis.  However, there were, and still are, very few men who want to go through the process of injection every time they need to get an erection.

For those without ED the process starts in the brain.  The brain sends a signal through the nervous system causing a chain reaction of various chemicals.  These chemicals stimulate the smooth muscles (involuntary muscles) around the arteries to either contract or relax.  When they relax, blood flows into the penis.  However, for those with ED, there is a disconnect in the chemical signals from the brain.  The brain knows that it is aroused, but the arteries are not fully relaxing.

Viagra works in order to increase the amount of a certain chemical, one that is really only found in the penis, so that the arteries will expand and a longer lasting erection is obtained.  Once the drug wears off, and the man is no longer aroused, the chemical balance reverts to a normal, non-aroused state.

In the late 1980’s scientists working for Pfizer developed the drug sildenafil citrate.  They thought they were onto the next big thing as far as treatment of heart disease goes.  Over the next several years they discovered that the drug did not help with heart disease, but the test subjects found that they were having longer and more frequent erections.  By 1998 Pfizer had FDA approval for the next big thing in impotency treatment.  Viagra hit the markets in April of that year.

In just the first few weeks, thousands of men were prescribed this new drug to help treat their erectile dysfunction.  The drug was an immediate money maker for Pfizer, even with each pill costing around $7 in 1998.  Today, the price per pill has risen to over $22.

For the first 5 years, Viagra was the only erectile dysfunction drug on the market.  Pfizer controlled the market and was able to see billions of dollars come in as millions of men each year were prescribed the drug.  By 2003, however, other drugs were being developed, and Pfizer lost some market share.  They were by no means struggling however.

Even today, more than 15 years after the drug initially debuted, there are millions of prescriptions written each year.  In fact, the Viagra website boasts that more than 23 million men have tried Viagra since it gained FDA approval.  And although there are several other drugs on the market that have the same outcome, Viagra remains the most prescribed of the three major drugs for impotent men.

However, despite the drug’s popularity, there are problems that can arise with its use.  Those problems are more than just the headache or flushed face and chest that the drug company claims to be the most common side effects.

What is Melanoma?

Millions of people are diagnosed with cancer every year.  The most common form of cancer is skin cancer, with more than 2 million new diagnoses each year in the United States alone.  Out of these cases, 120,000 of them are melanoma cases.

Melanoma occurs when the skin cells become mutated and form tumors.  They are commonly seen as dark brown or black spots on the skin.  However, many people may mistake these tumors for moles, and go without treatment.  This leads melanoma to become the most deadly form of skin cancer.  Nearly 8,800 people in the US die from melanoma each year; this represents about 7.3% of the new cases.

How Viagra Leads to Melanoma

In order to work Viagra inhibits one chemical which allows the increase of another.  However, the research conducted between 2000 and 2010 that was recently published indicates that there is another, less desirable side effect of this inhibition.

When the PDG5A inhibitors (such as the drug in Viagra) go to work in the body they promote melanin synthesis.  Melanin is the pigment in skin, and it is what makes one person’s skin darker than another’s.

However, this melanin synthesis may also promote melanoma development.  Therefore, when a person who is taking Viagra develops melanoma, even in a small quantity, they are more prone to having the melanoma cells mutate and spread than a person who is not taking Viagra.

Melanoma is often associated with sunburns.  While there are many ways for the skin cells to mutate and become malignant, exposure to the sun is the primary way.  A person, who is using Viagra, even if they are now being careful in the sun, may have mutated skin cells that have essentially been lying dormant.  The melanin synthesis that leads to melanoma development encourages these cancer cells to grow and spread.

The popular erectile dysfunction medication Viagra has been linked to sudden blindness.  Roughly 36 hours after their first dose of Viagra, a number of men have suffered non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition where a lack of blood supply causes optic nerve damage which leads to vision loss.  Roughly 8,000 people are diagnosed with this condition every year, and there is currently no treatment that can reverse vision loss caused by NAION.  People who have NAION often describe their vision as hazy, or they have a dark shadow that obscures either the upper or the lower half of the vision in one eye.  Patients over the age of 50 who already have vision or eye problems, who smoke, or who have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease are at a heightened risk for Viagra NAION.

The FDA updated the warning label for Viagra and similar erectile dysfunction drugs in 2007 to reflect the risk of sudden hearing loss which may affect men within a few hours of using this drug.