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Article Excerpt
Viagra, the first oral pill to treat impotence, is facing increased scrutiny amid concerns that it--and other similar treatments for erectile dysfunction--can cause blindness. An ATLA litigation group was formed in August after a report in the March 2005 Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology detailed the cases of seven men who experienced a form of blindness called non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) after taking Viagra. Earlier studies also showed a possible link between NAION and the drug.
Viagra (like its competitors Levitra and Cialis) inhibits the enzyme phosphodiesterase (PDE), enabling blood flow to the penis. Although litigation began in earnest after the March report, concerns about Viagra and eye problems have been circulating since the drug was approved in March 1998. In July of that year, the Public Citizen Health Research Group petitioned the FDA to change Viagra's labeling, warning of its potential to adversely affect the retina. The drug's label at the time noted that changes in color perception could result from the drug's effect on the retina.
Unlike that side effect, NAION, commonly called a "stroke of the eye," is a decrease in blood supply to the optic nerve, leading to permanent blindness. The case of Charles Sansone, who took Viagra for years, is typical of lawsuits that allege a connection between Viagra and NAION. One evening in 2002 Sansone took Viagra; when he awoke the next morning, he was unable to see out of one eye. He now is permanently blind in that eye. (Sansone...
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