A dose of desire

The short answer: They8217;re still working on it. A bunch of companies have tried and failed to create 8220;pink Viagra8221;, as it8217;s often called. Other companies have drugs in late stages of clinical testing, including a gel that recently began a make-or-break nationwide study with several thousand women. Give us five years, maybe less, say the most optimistic researchers and doctors. Though it8217;s unclear exactly how many women would ask for a prescription, no one doubts that the first company that gets to market a remedy for female sexual dysfunction, as it8217;s formally known, will earn a fortune.

But as this race reaches what could be its final lap, not all of the spectators are cheering. Some, in fact, are booing as loudly as they can.

A modest-size but fervent group of psychologists, academics and public health advocates contend that FSD isn8217;t an authentic medical condition, or at least not the sort of problem that should be treated with drugs. These aren8217;t the obtuse male physicians who for decades have been telling women distressed by their lack of libido that 8220;it8217;s all in your head.8221;