The birth of Viagra and revolution that followed
20 years ago, Viagra was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and it answered the prayers of many men suffering from erectile dysfunction. However, the developers of the drug were not even looking for it, instead they wanted to create a drug to treat chest pain. As it turned out, the drug increased blood flow to the penis, not heart. Talk about accidents!
The success following the breakthrough
Within a short span of time, pharma giant Pfizer was able to push the little blue pill to a large market in the United States. After the FDA approval, over 10,000 prescriptions were written in a single day. Further, in 20 odd years of its existence, it has generated over $17 billion in the US. Today, Viagra is undoubtedly the cash cow for Pfizer.
How viagra found a place for itself in politics
The breakthrough of Viagra happened at a time when the White House was shaken by Bill Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton's fiercest political enemy Bob Dole became a TV pitchman for the drug, bringing conversations about sex to the dinner tables of America.
But counterfeited Viagra drugs weren't far behind
With Viagra's popularity, came another problem the makers had to deal with- fake pills. Soon, fake Viagra found its way in many markets, including Thailand and India. A 2011 poll by Pfizer concluded that 80% of Viagra available online is fake, and contains harmful products like pesticides, plaster or ink. No wonder Viagra became the most counterfeited drug.
