Viagra and blindness link investigated

CBS News is reporting that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating if Viagra may have caused blindness in some men. Ophthalmologists at the University of Minnesota first reported the link between Viagra and blindness on March 31st this year. As drug companies often ignore research that may affect their sales, the company essentially did nothing, but the FDA is now taking action.

FDA also is not known for being meticulous about drug safety. Dangerous drugs stay on the market for years either because FDA has no way to monitor their safety after approval or it is just too afraid of big pharma, particularly of their lobbyists and politicians in Washington that almost always receive huge campaign donations from the drug firms. That is why dangerous drugs like Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra, Adderall, Accutane, etc. end up harming Americans.

According to CBS News, there are as many as 50 Americans who are reporting vision loss due to Viagra. Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, is notorious for misleading advertisements and has often been warned by the FDA. Pfizer's two Cox-2 drugs, Celebrex and Bextra, stayed on the market despite several studies showed that they were too dangerous. Only when forced by the FDA did Pfizer recall Bextra and put a black box warning on Celebrex.

Pfizer had no statement on their website about Viagra's safety concerns.

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