Sex and the Insurance Man

Viagra, the new drug to combat impotence, has become something of a pharmaceutical phenom. Doctors are writing tens of thousands of prescriptions a day, responding to a demand that has surprised even the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer Inc. A most pleasant surprise, to be sure, since at a retail price of $10 a pill Pfizer stands to profit handsomely on its investment. Viagra is intended to be taken on what, for want of a better term, might be called an as-needed basis, about an hour before intercourse. Other companies that are awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval for their erectile dysfunction drugs are looking enviously at the potential market.

The great demand for Viagra is not necessarily an indication of widespread chronic impotence. Doctors report some potent men seek prescriptions simply in hopes of increasing their sexual performance; researchers don’t yet know whether that goal is achievable. Meanwhile, many of the largest insurance companies are balking at covering Viagra prescriptions. Cost is obviously the biggest reason. Also at issue is the more complex and intimate quality-of-life question of whether non-impotent men eager to have sex more frequently should be entitled to covered prescriptions.

The question has possibly serious societal implications. Might the nation’s sky-high divorce rate fall if pills were able to revive flagging male libidos? For that matter, might the divorce rate rise for the same reason? How much of the demand for Viagra suggests a need and how much simply a compelling want? And if the latter, should insurers be asked to subsidize the pursuit of pleasure? The debate, we suspect, is just beginning.