Pfizer Gives Up, Can't Understand Women

After eight years of work and tests involving 3,000 women, Pfizer Inc. announced yesterday that it was abandoning its effort to prove that the impotence drug Viagra improves sexual function in women. [...] For men, arousal almost always leads to desire. So by improving a man's ability to have erections, Viagra measurably affects his sexual function. But arousal and desire are often disconnected in women, the researchers found, to their consternation.

Although Viagra can indeed create the outward signs of arousal in many women, that seems to have little effect on a woman's willingness, or desire, to have sex, the researchers said. [...] Women who once had normal sexual function but then suddenly lost all desire - often as a result of taking antidepressants - can be helped by Viagra, he said. Women who have always had low libido levels are unaffected by Viagra, he said. [...]

( Quick explanation of tests )

- New York Times article