Some interesting parallels between Japan and the United States can be looked to when examining what made Japan approve, quite suddenly, the pill this year (Howey). When Medicaid and various other major health insurers started, in the U.S. to cover Viagra, American feminists were outraged; why hadn't these very same health plans covered the birth control pill? In Japan, Viagra was introduced and approved in record time. The women of Japan are noting this discrepancy in legalization between these two sex-related drugs, and have used it as grounds for the legalization of the pill. In January of this year (1999) the Japanese Health Ministry licensed Viagra after a short six month testing stint.

Why hadn't the Pill been approved after so many years? According to Akiko Domoto, co-founder of Japan's network for Women and Health, there is an extremely small range of contraceptives. "Many women are forced to resort to induced abortion in order to end unwanted pregnancies," he said. When Viagra was approved, a national uproar occurred. Sankei newspaper, largely known in Japan as a conservative publication, even ran a headline: "Sexual discrimination in drugs? Viagra vs the Pill." (Watts)

So why was Japan so quick to approve Viagra for men? And what has taken Japan so long to approve the drug that has been legal in the U.S. for so long?     Click for more -------->