The Doctor is IN!

Following Day 1 of the recent FDA Public Hearing on Women's Sexual Health ( in which patients, such as myself, had the opportunity to  tell our stories ), physicians and clinicians were in the spotlight on Day 2.

Many experienced and compassionate physicians and clinicians voiced their concern over a lack of FDA medical treatment for women suffering from FSDD.  Many of these had either been an investigator for one or more of these drugs or were actively treating patients who suffer from low libido and are frustrated at the lack of options they can offer.

As always, there were critics.  One actually sat at my table for a brief time and she recently published her "opinion" in the Allentown, PA paper.  I have the link to her review below but more importantly the closing remarks from Dr. Michael Krychman who very eloquently defended the need for an FDA approval and the bias directed at women throughout history.

As a patient who suffers with HSDD and had the opportunity to be in a clinical trial  on which I had dramatic improvements not only in the frequency and quality of satisfying sexual events but also the distress that HSDD caused my emotional life.

Thank you to all the physicians who spoke on my behalf and countless women who are suffering silently.  Having DIRECT experience working with these drugs and seeing the positive effect with low side effects, I trust you as a spokesperson.

For critics such as Ms. Hicks who have never taken one of these drugs, it is my hope they will keep their opinions to just that and not interject data which are unfounded and can be proven factually wrong.

Thanks Dr. Krychman, Dr. Portman, Dr. Simon, Dr. Kingsberg, etc...

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-sex-drugs-for-women-hicks-yv-1201-20141201-story.html

Here are Dr. Krychman's closing remarks...well said and delivered!!

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Michael Krychman. I'm a sexual medicine gynecologist, sex therapist, and clinical researcher. My disclosures in Shionogi, Pfizer, Palatin, Noven and my funding was partially supported by Sprout. I'm also the social media chair for ISSWSH and I want to clarify that ISSWSH did not provide any grants for anyone to be here.

I have been here for two days and heard the word "complex." I stopped counting after 20. We have oversimplified men and overcomplicated women. We agree it's multifactorial and multifaceted. I am the sole financial provider for a family of four, 8-year-old twins anticipating an overnight flight to give an educational lecture on sexual medicine and sexual psychology at a major University tomorrow morning so please don't minimize my stress or fatigue.

We have heard today that women respond in implement different treatments to address their symptoms. As a clinician, I provide ingredients so we can uniquely provide a safe, effective recipe for individualized women who are impacted by this medical issue. Woman choose pills or not, counseling or not, hormones or not. No medically approved option hurts women. I'm cautiously concerned that the FDA is now scrutinizing and getting involved in healthcare provider prescribing behavior. I believe in women.

Let us learn from history. We did not think women were smart enough to vote. We denied them this privilege. We have been taught wrong. We didn't think women were strong enough to defend our country and we again have been taught wrong. Allow the philosophy of the sanctity of the therapeutic alliance between healthcare provider and patients. Healthcare providers want to help. Women want to be helped. Women will not remain on treatment if not effective or experience adverse events. Allow women their constitutional autonomy to be smart and strong.