We have been seeing ads about men’s junk and sexuality for years. There are commercials for erectile dysfunction drugs (Viagra, Cialis, and others). At long last, we have a pill for women suffering from sexual dysfunctions, Addyi. But guess what? Insurance companies don’t want to pay for it.
Some insurance companies don’t want to pay for Viagra either, but most will. They consider a man’s ability to get his dick hard a health emergency, apparently. Also, doctors and insurance companies don’t ask a man to go see a psychiatrist before getting the Viagra.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein, a sexual health specialist in San Diego, said that it is a total double standard. Most of his prescriptions for Addyi get rejected by insurance, but that never happens when he prescribes Viagra.
It’s not just this drug. Many insurance companies balk at hormones for women with vaginal dryness or other hormonal problems. They will give men as much testosterone as they want.
Do you want to try Addyi? You many need to have an extra $1,000 a month. I guess insurance companies don’t think that women deserve pleasurable sex, or even deserve the right to have a libido.
Many insurance companies want you to try a cheaper drug before getting Addyi. What is this drug? It’s Wellbutrin. Kelly Jones, a gynecologist, said:
“That makes no sense. For Wellbutrin to be considered first-line therapy for something it’s not FDA-approved to treat, that’s concerning.”
Wellbutrin is an antidepressant with its own list of really ugly side effects, and one pleasant side effect: it increases the likelihood that women will orgasm and in some women, the orgasms can be more intense. Wellbutrin, however, has not bee approved by the FDA to specifically treat women’s sexual problems. In spite of this, insurance companies want women to use this drug instead of one specifically designed to treat low libido and sexual pleasure.
This double standard just shows how much sexism is still out there. If the Republicans their grubby little hands on Obamacare, this may make Addyi even harder to get.
The Republican platform for 2016 says that the GOP wants a constitutional amendment banning abortions. It says:
“We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
Here is a CBS news segment about the pill.
Featured image via 123rf
