You may know Viagra as the "blue pill" but what about Addyi, the "pink pill"?
Addyi was first approved in the U.S. in 2015 to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) – the medical term for women experiencing low libidos. According to the National Institutes of Health, it is "the most commonly identified sexual problem among women." It was first identified in 1977 but getting drugs to market for women's sexual health faces unique challenges. Addyi is one of two approved drugs that help improve women's low libido, while 26 drugs have been approved for male sexual health by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On this episode, host and producer Nam Kiwanuka speaks with Aisling Chin-Yee about the history of how Addyi came to market and what making her documentary, "The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control", has taught her about how this pink pill is changing the conversation about women's libido.
Links:
How U.S. Tried but Failed to Wipe Out 70 Years of Global Consent on Women’s Rights
https://msmagazine.com/2026/03/19/usa-csw-70-women/
A Pill for Sexual Desire Reaches a New Group of Women
https://time.com/7341012/sexual-desire-pill-addyi-cindy-eckert/
The Pink Pill : New documentary exposes the long battle to bring Addyi — the first libido drug for women — to market
https://theconversation.com/the-pink-pill-new-documentary-exposes-the-long-battle-to-bring-addyi-th…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8673442/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32301355/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/414363

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