DanMargarita.com

Viagra, the "little blue pill" designed to help men diagnosed with "erectile dysfunction" soon will have some stiff competition. According to "Business Wire," a new drug Cialis (TM) (tadalafil), soon to receive FDA approval, had allowed men to stay in a state of arousal for up the 36 hours in a controlled study. Sort of like being in high school again. Will attempts to improve on that continue? Will we eventually see a pill that works 24/7?

According to the article the study was published in the June 2003 issue of "Urology." I'm not making that up. (Their swimsuit issue must be a killer).The piece goes on to say that 64 percent of men given tadalafil were successful in their attempts at...um, shall we say "circling the bases" some 36 hours after taking the drug, while only 35 percent of men were successful after taking a placebo, which means that 65 percent of their partners remained frustrated. OK, I made that last statistic up.

Cialis, along with another new drug Levitra, will attempt to take the edge away from Pfizer, the maker of Viagra. Levitra is said to take effect in fifteen minutes, half the time of Viagra, while as I mentioned earlier, Cialis can last for up to 36 hours, begging the question "who needs to be aroused for 36 hours?" This is not a drug to be taking if you have to go anywhere the next day, like...to work.

"Good morning, Bob. Say...you really enjoy your work, don't you?"

One constant Viagra commercial involves a guy walking into work and no one can figure out what's different about him. It shouldn't have been all that difficult.

"Good morning, Joe. Did you get a haircut?"

"Nope."

"Have you lost weight?"

"Nope."

"New suit?"

"Nope."

"Did you get laid last night?"

"E.D." is a serious problem for those who suffer from it and for them Viagra proved to be a Godsend. The little blue pill has gone mainstream, initially contracting none other than former Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole as it's spokesman. It's a good thing that he wasn't elected because it would be kind of frightening to know that a sexually frustrated man had his finger on the nuclear button.

There is a new spokesman for the product now. One can't watch a ballgame now without seeing a phony newspaper headline that ironically reads "RAFAEL PALMEIRO COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH." While it's noble for anyone to step up and be a spokesman about this problem, one has to wonder if the Texas Ranger's star, who'll make $9 million this season, feels his $500,000 spokesman's fee is worth the ribbing that he undoubtedly takes. Doesn't the man make enough money? Do you want the entire country to know that you can't "come through in the clutch?"

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Palmeiro was the butt of jokes at Pittsburgh's PNC Park when his team, the Texas Rangers traveled there. When Palmeiro was announced as the batter, the organist played "Pop goes the weasel" on one occasion and the PA a "boing" sound effect on another.

The wonders of modern medicine have been able to assist many men with a real problem and that's terrific, but might there be a limit to how potent it can get? It's one thing to have a problem solved, but it's quite another to turn men into "Viagra Falls."

So, what do we do?

Take two, and hit to right.