Remember the hilarious scene from the movie Something’s Gotta Give? Jack Nicholson, in the hospital with a suspected heart attack, refused to admit that he had taken Viagra… until the doctor began listing all the dangerous side effects. I thought about that scene when I read the research report I am about to share with you — imagining it rewritten so that the doctor is talking away but the patient can’t hear a thing! Because it turns out that there is yet another nasty potential side effect of ED drugs like Viagra — total hearing loss. While these drugs already carry a black-box warning stating that “sudden decrease or loss of hearing has been rarely reported,” experts think the problem is serious enough to warrant further warnings from doctors.

What Did the Research Say?

Researchers in London just released a study that gathers information about 47 cases of sudden hearing loss associated with use of ED drugs — and more with sildenafil (Viagra) than the others — in North America, Europe, East Asia and Australia. If you find that number of cases underwhelming, you’ll want to know that this study left out 240 apparent cases that occurred here in the US because the researchers didn’t have sufficient detail. What’s different from the earlier warning: This study focused specifically on sudden sensorineural hearing loss(SSHL). It’s rare, but it can be devastating in that it sometimes results in permanent hearing loss.

It’s thought that SSLH is sometimes caused by a head trauma or infection, but in most cases, it seems to come out of nowhere. The London researchers looked exclusively at cases of SSHL that developed within 24 hours of taking an ED drug — two-thirds of the total. Statistically, one-third of the victims of this condition never regain their hearing.

24-Hour Connection

I called otolaryngologist Eric Smouha, MD, director of otology and neurotology at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City to learn more about the connection between ED drugs and SSHL. In his view, the association is inconclusive, though he did agree that the fact that all these men experienced hearing loss within 24 hours of taking the drugs was “pretty compelling.”

He told me that further research is required to answer some important questions, specifically …

  • Which of the drug users are at greatest risk for SSHL — regular, occasional or first-time users?
  • Is there any physical condition that would put someone at higher risk?
  • Why did SSHL develop most often after men (and the occasional woman) took Viagra rather than one of the other drugs?

Until these questions can be answered, Dr. Smouha urges anyone who uses or is considering using Viagra or another ED drug to check with his doctor and bring up the question of effects on hearing.

And no doubt we will all be hearing much more about SSLH and ED drugs in the next few years, says Dr. Smouha. Even though the numbers of people currently known to be affected are small, this report is giving the problem a higher profile, and drug surveillance agencies around the world are going to take note. Once they start looking, who knows what they might find?