This BBC News article reports on a University of Minnesota Medical School study that links use of Viagra to vision loss:
[Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School] writing in the Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology, said it brought the total number of reported cases to 14. But Pfizer, the makers of the drug which has been used by more than 20m men since its launch in 1998, said the cases were a coincidence. The seven men, aged between 50 and 69 years old, had all suffered from a swelling of the optic nerve within 36 hours of taking Viagra for erectile dysfunction.
If the plaintiffs’ lawyers can use this information to prompt Pfizer to use Viagra’s advertising budget for defense costs rather than advertising, then I will be strong advocate of the plaintiffs’ bar in this case. Hat tip to the HealthLawProf Blog for the link to the BBC News article.
There’s still no guarantee that the drug really was the cause of vision loss. But perhaps, we must be reminded that we should be very careful in taking any medications without the doctors order.