VIAGRA AND MELANOMA – WHAT THEY KNEW, WHEN THEY KNEW IT

Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is undoubtedly the most famous “little blue pill” in history. In 2016, Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that makes Viagra, made $1.14 billion in U.S. sales and over $2 billion worldwide. With so many men taking this prescription, should the bottle carry a warning about the dangerous risk for melanoma (skin cancer)?

WHAT THEY KNEW

A study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine that determine that men who took Viagra had an 84 percent higher risk for having melanoma (skin cancer) than men who didn’t take the ED (erectile dysfunction) drug. Research began in 2000 when doctors questioned 26,000 men about their sexual health, if they used Viagra, how much time did they spend in the sun and if they had any genetic skin cancer risks (which included hair and eye color and mole growth). After ten years, it was found that the men who used Viagra were twice as likely to have melanoma.

So how can Viagra increase the risk for melanoma? One theory is that Viagra helps patients get an erection by suppressing the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5A enzyme.This apparently mimics the activation of a mutation seen in melanoma. Simply put, if the PDE5A enzyme is lowered from the use of Viagra, there is a potential for melanoma cells to increase.

WHEN THEY KNEW IT

While this study linking Viagra use to melanoma was published in 2014, there is still no warning on the label to make patients aware of the risk of skin cancer.  In June 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will “study the potential link between melanoma and erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs including sildenafil (Viagra)”, but as of yet, there have been no updates from the FDA.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

If you took Viagra and currently have or have had melanoma, you may be able to receive compensation. You probably have expensive medicals bills and you might have had to take time off of work as a result of many doctors appointments, for recovery time or worse… Pfizer has been aware of the link of Viagra to melanoma for at least four years and they still fail to warn patients of the risk. Contact us today to see if you qualify to make a claim.

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