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Sexual Enhancement Drug for Women

by Leasa Conze, KOLD News 13 Producer

A patch designed to enhance womens' sex lives is about to hit the market in the United Kingdom, and some women are wondering why it won't also be available in the U.S.

The patch is called Intrinsa.  It's made by Proctor and Gamble.  It's testosterone for post-menopausal women, like Rosyln Washington.  She participated in a U.S. trial of the patch in 2004 and says it helped.  "It was a noticeable increase in my sexual desire, just physically and mentally I just felt great."

But the Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel rejected Intrinsa after the trials, because it said there wasn't enough long term safety data.  The panel raised concerns that giving post-menopausal women certain types of hormones, including testosterone, could lead to higher rates of heart disease and cancer.

The FDA also worried that women who didn't need the patch might start taking it anyway to give their sex lives an added boost.

Researchers who worked on the Intrinsa patch say, however, that what's most important is how a woman feels. Dr. Jim Simon from George Washington University Medical Center is one of those researchers. "In the studies, it's very clear that women using the testosterone patches felt sexier, felt better about their sexual life, felt better about themselves, in general, and about their relationships." 

Intrinsa is currently sold in Germany and France, and starting next week, women in Britain will be able to buy it with a prescription.