A decade after Viagra took the world by storm, sales of the three major erection medications have gone a bit flaccid. The reasons shed new light on a subject rarely discussed before Viagra’s approval—older men’s sexuality.

Shortly after Viagra was approved, pundits predicted sales of $4.5 billion a year. Today, combined sales of the three major drugs (Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis) total only about $2 billion. That’s a lot of money, but older men did not flock to the drugs in anywhere near the numbers the experts anticipated. Fewer than half of men who get a prescription refill it. And only about 10 percent of men over 50, the age group the drugs were intended for, have even tried them.

In this article:

• 7 reasons men don’t men refill prescriptions.
• Why so few older men have tried erection drugs.
• The irony of erection medications.