Ad blitz to push testosterone drug troubles doctors
Prescription gel sales hit more than US$2b for what physicians say is largely invented condition
The barrage of advertisements targets older men. "Have you noticed a recent deterioration of your ability to play sports?" "Do you have a decrease in sex drive?" "Do you have a lack of energy?"
If so, the ads warn, you should "talk to your doctor about whether you have low testosterone" - "Low T", as they put it.
Sales of prescription testosterone gels that are absorbed through the skin generated over US$2 billion in US sales last year, a number that is expected to more than double by 2017. Abbott Laboratories, which owned AbbVie until January 1, spent US$80 million advertising its version, AndroGel, last year.
Once a niche treatment for people suffering from hormonal deficiencies caused by such medical problems as endocrine tumours or the disruptive effects of chemotherapy, the prescription gels are increasingly being sold as lifestyle products, to raise dipping levels of the male sex hormone as men age.
"The market for testosterone gels evolved because there is an appetite among men and because there is advertising," said Dr Joel Finkelstein, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who is studying male hormone changes with ageing.