Meet Butler County doctor who helped get approval for female sex pill

A local physician had a hand in influencing the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of the first drug to treat sexual dysfunction in women.

Dr. Lisa Larkin, director of UC Health's Women's Center in West Chester, testified June 4 in Maryland in front of the FDA's Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.

“These women come to me day after day asking for help and looking for solutions; I’m here today because I want to help my patients and I want there to be options for patients who need help,” Larkin said before the committee. “Women … have real and distressing unmet sexual health needs.”

Surveys estimate that between 5.5 million to 8.6 million U.S. women — or roughly 8 percent to 14 percent of women ages 20 to 49 — suffer from a condition called hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Larkin said testifying in June was an opportunity for her to “be a huge advocate for my patients.” She was one of over 20 people to testify in support, along with patients, advocacy groups and other physicians.

“It was an amazing experience; I was thrilled to be able to do it and be part of history,” Larkin said.

Larkin said the drug won’t become available for prescribing until mid-October due to production and other requirements such as education of physicians and an online test they have to complete.

The drug flibanserin — which will come in the form of a pink pill sold under the brand name addyi — is made by North Carolina-based Sprout Pharmaceuticals. It’s designed to stimulate the brain to improve lagging libido in women who suffer.

“These are women who had normal libido before and have had a complete loss,” Larkin said.

Flibanserin joins the ranks of Viagra, Cialis and dozens of other medications that have been FDA-approved to treat sexual dysfunction in men.

“(Women’s) sexual health was completely being ignored,” Larkin said in comparison to discussion about men’s sexual health in the last decade. “By the time women got to me they were desperate. I treat these patients and have nothing to prescribe them.”

Larkin is board certified in internal medicine with a focus on women’s health and advanced training in menopause and sexual health issues. She is associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University of Cincinnati.

The UC Health Women’s Center at West Chester Hospital opened May 2013. Larkin has been a part of the team since the women’s center was in development.

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