Viagra Users Lose Eyesight

May 2005

Men taking Viagra and Cialis to solve their impotence problems may face new concerns, such as partial loss of their eyesight. Reports of partial vision loss in 38 men have prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to request Viagra manufacturer, Pfizer, change labels alerting patients to the possible risk. Eli Lilly & Co., the manufacturer of Cialis, has already made the change to its label.

Despite vision loss reports, doctors and industry analysts still maintain that there is little risk of blindness caused by Viagra or Cialis, popular impotence drugs taken by more than 23 million men since 1998 and 2003, respectively. A third impotence drug, Levitra, reports one person has experienced vision loss.

The cases reported to the FDA involve a disorder known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, also called Naion. It occurs from poor blood flow in the blood vessels around the eye. The condition generally occurs to men over 50 who have existing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure—all factors that cause erectile dysfunction.

Normally, Naion only affects one eye and doesn’t always cause permanent blindness. Fairly uncommon, the eye disease affects 2 to 10 of every 100,000 people.

In response to the FDA report, Pfizer claims it did not see any instances of the disease in more than 100 Viagra clinical trials that studied 13,000 men.