The PINK PILL for Women's Sexual Desire - Why it Took 10x Longer for Women's Addyi vs Men's Viagara with Cindy Eckert & Julie Bristow

Here’s a run down of what we discussed in today’s episode: What Is Addyi? The First FDA-Approved Treatment for Low Female Desire Addyi vs Viagra: Why the “Pink Pill” Took 17 Years to Approve Cultural Bias in Medicine: Why Women’s Sexual Health Was Dismissed Why This Story Matters Now: The Documentary The Pink Pill Feminism, Pharma & Politics: Navigating a Controversial Topic Understanding HSDD: Biology vs Context in Low Sexual Desire Can a Medication Empower Women’s Sexual Autonomy? Who Really Has Control? Power, Partners & the Medical System Addyi, Ozempic & the Shift From Moral Judgment to Biology Sexual Autonomy, Systemic Change & What True Choice Looks Like Check in with today’s amazing guest: Julie Bristow & Cindy Eckert The Pink Pill catalystforcreators.com instagram.com/bristow.julie cindypinkceo.com instagram.com/cindypinkceo addyi.com sproutpharmaceuticals.com Disclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider. If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •✨ Reach Your Weight & Health Goals — Without Dieting! Pre-order The Hunger Crushing Combo Method, Abbey’s revolutionary additive approach to eating well. Learn how to boost satiety, stabilize blood sugars, reduce disease risk, and improve your relationship with food — all while getting the best nutrient bang for your caloric buck. With 400+ research citations, cheat sheets, evidence-based actionable tips, meal plans, and adaptable recipes, The Hunger Crushing Combo Method is the only nutrition bible you’ll ever need. 👉 Pre-order today! 🛒 Where to Purchase: Amazon Barnes & Noble Amazon Kindle Apple Books Google Play Kobo Apple Books (Audiobook) Audible abbeyskitchen.com/hunger-crushing-combo • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletters: Abbey’s Kitchen Newsletter 📘 Check out my FREE E-Books: Hunger Crushing Combo™ E-Book Protein 101 E-Book 👋 Follow me! Instagram: @abbeyskitchen TikTok: @abbeyskitchen YouTube: @AbbeysKitchen Blog: abbeyskitchen.com Book: The Mindful Glow Cookbook • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — and leave us a review! It really helps support the show ❤️ 💬 If you liked this podcast, please like, follow, and leave a review — and let me know who you’d love to hear about next! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Now, more than ever, we need someone on our side. But Rob Whitman? Whitman's votes drove up costs, cut Medicaid, and risked 350,000 Virginians' health care to pay for tax breaks for himself and his donors. He's not on our side. Shannon Taylor will fight corruption, cut taxes, and bring down costs. This November, vote for Shannon Taylor. She's for us. Paid for by HMP, the HouseMajorityPac.com. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  The cultural narrative for so long has been that pleasure is right for men. It is theirs to receive. And pleasure is women's to deliver. I think women have taken the mic. I think it's a seismic shift.

• 0:50Abbey Sharp?

  Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, where I dismantle die culture rules, call out the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. Today, we're diving into a conversation that sits right at the intersection of sex, science, power, and culture. Basically, my favorite place to be. In 1998, Viagra was approved and quickly became one of the most recognizable drugs in modern history, a signal that men's sexual function was a need to be prioritized. But then it took another 17 years and a ton of regulatory hurdles, controversy, and intense public scrutiny for the FDA to approve a pink pill,

• 1:35Abbey Sharp?

  aka Addy, for women's low sexual desire. The new documentary, The Pink Pill: Sex Drugs and Who Has Control, dives into the struggle that women have faced for sexual autonomy and the bigger cultural questions underneath it all. And I'm so excited to be joined by executive producer and founder of Catalyst, Julie Bristow, along with the founder of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, who brought Addy to the market, Sidney Eckert. This is a story about more than just one long overdue medication. It is a story about who gets taken seriously. Medicine, who absorbs risks, who benefits, whose needs matters? And what women's sexual autonomy actually looks like?

• 2:19Abbey Sharp?

  Now, before we get into it, I would love if you would just take a quick moment to subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening and leave me a little five star review and a comment if you're loving what you're hearing. Also a reminder that my bestselling book, The Hunger Crushing Combo Method is now on sale online and in stores in hardcover, digital ebook and audiobook versions if you like the podcast vibe. So if you're finally looking to meet your wellness goals without restriction or denial, I would really, really love it if you would check out the links in the show notes where you can order yours today. All right, friends, let's get into it.

• 3:03Abbey Sharp?

  Hello Cindy, hello Julie. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat here. I'm a big fan of everything you're doing to carry these very important conversations around women's health and wellness. So thank you. Thank you.

• 3:14Speaker 01

  Thanks for having us.

• 3:16Abbey Sharp?

  Cindy, I want to just kind of set the stage here for a moment about Addy, which you kind of brought over the finish line as the first FDA approved treatment for women's low sexual desire. And it's often described as kind of women's Viagra, but it's actually a very different role. Can you just kind of explain top level how it works?

• 3:36Speaker 01

  Yes, so we are brain flow, not blood flow. In the simplest term, this is desire, this is arousal. So I think that's the starting point of the conversation is that we really do turn on in the brain.

• 3:48Abbey Sharp?

  Oh, that is a really great way to summarize that. And you know, when we think about the timelines of the blue versus pink pill, Viagra was approved in like six months and then you had to fight to get Addy approved for years, almost two decades later. So it's, it's hard not to notice the difference in urgency here. How do you interpret that gap? Like is this science, is this cultural discomfort around female sexuality? Is regulatory caution? Like what, what is it?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Science always had the answer. We just had to get out of our own way culturally. I think the cultural narrative. For so long has been that, you know, pleasure is a right for men. It is theirs to receive and pleasure is women's to deliver. And I think that's really what this turned on its head. And we had to wrestle with culturally because the narrative had never been there that was quite clear that women have a right to desire and they do desire.

• 4:46Abbey Sharp?

  Of course, yeah. And I remember reading an interview where you talked about when Addyi first came out, like 10 years ago, and the headlines were saying, female Viagra, isn't that just jewelry? Basically suggesting that like unlike men with erectile dysfunction, women wanting to have sex is just a choice that can be bought off by like shiny little things.

• 5:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:10Abbey Sharp?

  How do you think the conversation, you know, is changing as it pertains to women's sexual needs and health?

• 5:17Speaker 01

  I think women have taken the mic. I think it's a seismic shift in terms of how women are not accepting headlines like that, not accepting being dismissed with something that they're struggling in, whether they're in perimenopause or they're in menopause. They're becoming real advocates and I think they're demanding being seen on the basis of their biology. Because what happens with so commonly in women's health is that we review everything on the basis of women's emotion, which gives us extraordinary permission to dismiss them, to tell them, just relax, you're stressed, you're this. And actually, we can have that conversation.

• 6:00Speaker 01

  It's a good one, but you're going to start with my biology.

• 6:04Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah, yeah. Now, Julie, I want to hear from you. You know, Addyi's not necessarily brand new. It's been approved now for a decade. What made this story feel urgent in this particular cultural moment that we are in right now?

• 6:18Speaker 03

  Well, I mean, the way this sort of came together is that my producing partner in the US was, she was investigating what in this moment in which perimenopause and menopause are finally becoming a conversation that women are having more and everybody's having more, we were trying to find a way into this story that we thought would be really interesting for viewers to watch. And that's the way Cindy came into the conversation. And I think for viewers, it's really interesting to have a central character like Cindy with a struggle like Cindy's, a sort of David and Goliath story that you can follow along, that when

• 7:01Speaker 03

  the director puts the story together, you see that the the microcosm of Cindy's story, although it's a it's a significant and large story, but the microcosm really shows the macro in the story about women's health, women's sexual health, but also women's desire, but women's healthcare in general, and how so many things are treated differently. And we really felt that this story, starting with Cindy and her, you know, kind of gargantuan fight that she has to get this to market, was really illustrative of the challenges for women in the healthcare system.

• 7:38Abbey Sharp?

  Oh, 100%.

• 7:54Abbey Sharp?

  And I want to kind of go back to the specifics of Addyi Cindy, because as of right now, correct me if I'm wrong, but it is approved for women dealing with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD. And I'm not a doctor, so drugs are well out of the scope of my practice. But there has been some pushback on HD HSDD as a diagnosis, with some critics suggesting that it may pathologize kind of normal variation in desire or contextual issues that can impact desire, like chronic stress, or unequal division of labor at the home, or body image pressure, relationship dissatisfaction, postpartum shifts, hermenopause, even economic strain. So I'm curious, Cindy, speaking to women who have struggled with low desire.

• 8:40Abbey Sharp?

  How do we navigate the tension between validating a biological or physiological component of low desire, while also acknowledging that in a lot of cases, context still does matter?

• 8:53Speaker 01

  I think it's said so well in the film, actually, by Sue Goldstein, who illustrates that in that moment at the FDA, you were almost like two camps. You either believed that women deserved something to address the biological basis of this, something that, for what it's worth, has been medically characterized since 1977, or you didn't. And I think what was so fascinating to me was, if you don't, kind of on what basis in the face of evidence, right? So the beauty is, if we're in this dialogue, about women's desire, you never have to take anything if you don't want. But what would it be? And what I think the film so powerfully examines is,

• 9:36Speaker 01

  what is it that would have us stand in the way of somebody else having access to that thing? And I think that's the glaring real disparity, when it comes to women's health. Like, what gives us permission to decide on behalf of other women what they can or can't do? Or what is the right thing for them to do? I'm alarmed always that when we have science and we don't lead with it, we don't give the best care to anybody. And it's, if you just flipped it for a second and thought about, well, let's talk about men's sexual health, because you mentioned the blue pill earlier. Is there, have we ever had the same debate over with men?

• 10:21Speaker 01

  Well, should, are they just stressed? Is it just economic issues? Is there a relationship struggle? Is it, and you know, you get into really dangerous territory if people like insurers are weighing in on that to say, well, just have her do this lifestyle modification and don't give her any access to the medication that's been proven safe and effective. So that's, that's the real. That's the real tension for all of us, I think, to hold up the mirror and examine in terms of our own point of view.

• 10:53Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah, you said that so, so well. And the fact that, you know, that we don't have an equitable view of, you know, what's important for women's health versus men's health. So I loved how you brought that up. And it actually kind of brings me back to this concept of control because the documentary is titled Sex, Drugs, and Who Has Control. Do you see access to Addy as shifting power towards women? Or, you know, is power in this space always going to be layered between patients and male partners and medicine and industry and everybody?

• 11:28Speaker 01

  My fundamental point of view is you should have all the power in the decisions that you make, given all the information and the facts. And it's ultimately up to you with a healthcare provider for anything that is a prescription medication. But nobody can gatekeep that decision from you, ultimately being fully informed and you having for yourself.

• 11:52Abbey Sharp?

  Mm hmm. Yeah, absolutely. And from both of your perspectives, you know, what does true sexual autonomy for women look like?

• 12:01Speaker 03

  Oof, that's a big question.

• 12:03Abbey Sharp?

  I know. That's overending, so give it to me.

• 12:06Speaker 03

  True sexual autonomy. Wow. I mean, I think, I think it's just off what Cindy has been saying is I think the ability to decide for yourself what it is that you want and to be able to ask for it and receive it.

• 12:25Speaker 01

  My, my basic point of view is you can't go through a sexual revolution and end at reproduction. You got to see it all the way through pleasure. And pleasure you should own in your life, whether it's in the bedroom, it's at work, it's in a relationship. I think it is transcendent of what we're talking about here, but really this empowerment is about owning your right to the things that you are worth.

• 12:50Abbey Sharp?

  That is a really powerful place, too. And I love that. Thank you so much both for your work. In the women's health space and for giving a platform to have these very, very important conversations. Cindy, I am so excited to hear what amazing women's health initiatives you have in the works as well. There's lots I hear going on. And then Julie, again, looking forward to see more important women's conversations about women's health through Catalyst. So thank you both for joining me.

• 13:18Speaker 03

  Great. Thank you, Abbey.

• 13:21Abbey Sharp?

  Oh, you know, as we were having this conversation, I kept thinking about the similarities that we have seen with conversations around obesity and medications like Ozempic. You know, for decades, people in larger bodies were simply told that their weight was simply a matter of willpower. Eat less, move more, try harder. And if you're struggling, it is all just some kind of personal failure. You know, when Ozempic came on the scene, the conversations around obesity were finally able to shift from a being simply a personal failure or laziness to a chronic multifactorial disease worthy of effective medical support.

• 14:06Abbey Sharp?

  It's really no different than what we have access to for other chronic diseases like diabetes. And that recognition was so, so powerful. Because once something is acknowledged as having at least some biological or genetic origins, it stops being framed purely as a moral flaw. But here's the nuance that we absolutely cannot ignore. Treating obesity as we do other chronic diseases, AKA with quality pharmacological solutions, doesn't mean we stop fighting weight stigma. It doesn't mean that we ignore food deserts. It doesn't mean that we abandon conversations about body image, mental health, or systemic inequality.

• 14:50Abbey Sharp?

  You know, medical treatment needs to work alongside systemic change. And I think that is where this conversation about sexual desire lives too. You know, for years, women with low sexual desire were simply told, oh, it's normal. You know, you're just Dress, go on a date night, buy lingerie, like work on yourself. Which, let's be honest, is literally just another version of try harder. So when a medication like Addy enters the picture, it can feel enormously validating. It says, this isn't just a personality flaw. This isn't just about effort. Biology may be part of your story as well, and that is so key. But again, this is where the nuance comes in.

• 15:33Abbey Sharp?

  Because acknowledging a biological component to low sexual desire doesn't mean we can just ignore the cultural one. Like if a woman is exhausted from carrying the mental load at home, if she feels surveilled by diet culture and disconnected from her body, or if she's navigating burnout or inequality, postpartum changes, perimenopause, we need to work on that too. No pill can redistribute labor or undo shame or single-handedly fix a culture that has policed women's bodies for centuries. So maybe the most mature way to hold this conversation is not some kind of either or. It's not, is this empowerment or is this capitalism?

• 16:17Abbey Sharp?

  But rather, can medical options be empowering for some women while we simultaneously fight for deeper systemic shifts? Are women choosing these medical options freely for them, for their needs to be met? Or if they're simply feeling pressure to use it to meet somebody else's expectations? So the idea of who has control here is a lot bigger than just this one drug. You know, and this is a theme that comes up over and over again in the work that I've done here because it is about bodily autonomy in every single sense. You know, with food, our weight, sex, pleasure, and so much more. And this is a conversation that I know we're going to continue to have here on Bite Back

• 17:01Abbey Sharp?

  in a variety of different contexts. So if you've enjoyed this episode, I would really love it if you would subscribe to the podcast, leave me a little review and a comment because it really does make a big difference. And don't forget to check out the links in the bio for where you can get my bestselling book, The Hunger Crushing Combo Method, and where you can watch The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs, and Who Has Control. Signing off with Science and SaaS, I'm Abbey Sharp. Thanks for listening.

• 17:36Speaker 00

  Now, more than ever, we need someone on our side. But Rob Whitman? Whitman's votes drove up costs, cut Medicaid, and risked 350,000 Virginians' health care to pay for tax breaks for himself and his donors. He's not on our side. Shannon Taylor will fight corruption, cut taxes, and bring down costs. This November, vote for Shannon Taylor. She's for us. Paid for by HMP, the House Majority PAC dot com. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.