FDA investigates blindness link in Viagra

Regulators with the US Food and Drug Administration continue to investigate reports of blindness linked to Pfizer's impotence drug Viagra and Eli Lilly's Cialis. The news follows demands from lawmakers last week that Medicare and Medicaid stop paying for the expensive and controversial drugs after revelations that convicted sex offenders have received government compensation for the lifestyle drugs. The government spends an estimated $2 billion per year on such drugs, which has outraged critics.

Drug companies are also being chided for their lack of participation in a project designed to create transparency in the clinical trial process. Independent scientists say crucial facts are still being hidden from researchers and studies are not being reported. "There are a lot of public statements from drug companies saying that they support the registration of clinical trials or the dissemination of trial results, but the devil is in the details," says Dr. Deborah Zarin, who runs clinicaltrials.gov for the National Institutes of Health.

- see this story from The New York Times on Viagra
- see this story from The New York Times on industry transparency

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