CBS
Continues Coverage of Alleged Viagra Link to Blindness
Ongoing story downplays
FDA disagreement and shows networks one-sided approach to rare
risk.
by Todd
Drenth
June 28, 2005
CBS continued to report on an alleged link between Viagra and
blindness that even the FDA cant find. The danger may be even
broader than previously known, said CBS anchor Bob Schieffer
leading into the June 27, 2005, story.
CBS Evening News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson
followed with a CBS News investigation finds more potential links
between Viagra and all kinds of blindness. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), which is looking into roughly 50 reported
cases of vision loss and their relation to Viagra, has found no
definitive proof that Viagra causes blindness.
After analyzing Viagra adverse events from the last
four years, Attkisson said CBS found more than 140 cases of partial
or total blindness. Last month CBS News reported that 23 million men
worldwide had used Viagra. These reports alone arent proof of a
direct link, Attkisson admitted, but experts look to them for
patterns. The pattern in this case indicated that only one out of
every 164,000 Viagra users has reported any problem. According to
the National Safety Council, the odds of dying from a lightning
strike were nearly three times worse: 56,439 to 1.
Atkisson first reported on a possible link between use
of Viagra and blindness on May 26, 2005. The latest story followed
an announcement by Viagra drug-maker Pfizer that it would warn
consumers about the potential side effect of vision impairment on
the drugs label. The story made no attempt to explain why Pfizer
agreed to the warning to protect itself from possible future
litigation.
In both stories, Attkisson stated a response from Pfizer, but had tried unsuccessfully to get a company to make their own position known.
While lawsuits are in process against Pfizer, the
doctor Atkisson relied upon had been a paid expert for both Pfizer
and patients suing Pfizer.
Dr. Howard Pomeranz, a neuro-ophthalmologist from the
University of Minnesota, was the one who first considered a possible
relation between Viagra and blindness in 1998. He pointed out that
most men are on Viagra because of problems with blood circulation
which also makes them prone to eye damage. Viagra may be an
additional risk factor. he said.
Pfizer, Atkisson said, insisted that no scientific
evidence suggests Viagra causes eye stroke or any other severe
vision problem and that huge clinical studies reveal no serious
eye issues. Clearly, that hadnt convinced Atkisson, since this was
her third story on problem.
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