Sales of Viagra are limp, so to speak. “Some of the decline is a result of reports, disputed by some specialists, that linked the drugs to a rare form of blindness, say urologists who specialize in treating impotence. But a more fundamental factor is also hurting sales, these doctors say: many impotent men have chosen not to take the drugs, even though the drugs work about 70 percent of the time and have relatively few side effects.

The drop in prescriptions comes as sales of other heavily marketed medicines, like antidepressants, are also stalling, and it may be another sign of the limits of consumer advertising to drive demand for drugs. In the late 1990’s, drug makers used television advertising to introduce treatments for chronic conditions like arthritis and heartburn. But today, with many patients angry about drug prices and worried that companies are downplaying side effects, drug advertising seems to have lost some of its power.”