November 21, 2012

Female orgasmic disorder? CBC airs indepth disease-mongering discussion

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Barbara Mintzes, CBC Radio, female sexual dysfunction, The Current

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) program, The Current, reported: “Drug to treat Female Orgasmic Disorder under speculation.”

The brief program description:

“Trials of a new drug to help treat a condition known as female orgasmic disorder are underway in Canada. But critics say there’s no such thing, and this is really about drug manufacturing and marketing.”

The healthy skeptic on the program (about 12 minutes deep in the audio below) was Dr. Barbara Mintzes, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia. The main focus of her research is on the effects of drug promotion, including direct-to-consumer advertising, on prescribing and medicine use. She also works with UBC’s Therapeutics Initiative to carry out systematic reviews on the beneficial and harmful effects of new drugs. She’s also co-author of the book, “Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals: How Drug Companies Plan to Profit from Female Sexual Dysfunction.”

(Warning: the embed code provided by the CBC results in the audio starting automatically. I have no control over that.)

The program is a classic discussion of concerns about disease-mongering. Kudos to CBC and The Current for educating listeners. It’s a 24-minute program well worth your time.

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