Tricare plans next week to expand its coverage of drugs used to treat premenopausal women with low sexual desire, a Tricare official said via email Thursday.
Over the last five years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved two drugs to treat women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD): the daily pill Addyi in 2015, and a self-administered injection, Vyleesi, in 2019.
Tricare officials said they plan to add Vyleesi to the list of covered drugs beginning Feb. 19. Addyi is already covered.
Related: Tricare Panel Votes to End Coverage of Brand-Name Viagra, Cialis
Sometimes called "Female Viagra" by news reports, these drugs are used to treat low libdio in women around 40 years old who have "marked distress or interpersonal difficulty." Patients inject Vyleesi in their thigh or abdomen at least 45 minutes before sexual activity to "increase sexual desire and reduce related distress."
However, the public has criticized these products as having severe side effects and minimal benefits.
Nausea occurred in 40% of the patients in clinical trials for Vyleesi, according to the FDA, and a quarter of the patients reported an increase of 1.2 or more in their sexual desire score -- scored on a scale of 1.2 to 6 -- compared to about 17% of those who took placebo.
To see what other drugs Tricare covers, visit the military health insurance's drug formulary here.
-- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg.
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