Is "female sexual dysfunction" really a medical condition, or did drug companies invent it to sell pills?

That's the question Australian investigative journalist Ray Moynihan seeks to answer in his new book, "Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals: How Drug Companies Are Bankrolling the Next Big Condition for Women."

"Female sexual dysfunction" is a much-debated term to describe a lack of sexual desire among women and the inability to reach orgasm. While the medical community does recognize many sexual problems among women, a 1999 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested sexual dysfunctions were much more widespread than anyone had thought.

That study found that 43 per cent of women suffered from some kind of sexual problem. But Moynihan and his co-author, Barbara Mintzes, argue the study was simply bad science.

"There is probably a small group of women for whom sexual difficulties are disabling and that a medical label may be warranted. But some of the claims we're hearing about these widespread dysfunctions are simply wrong," Moynihan told CTV's Canada AM.

Moynihan's book argues that the questionnaire used in the JAMA study grouped all sexual desire issues together, without regard to whether the source was physical, emotional, or related to relationship issues.

As well, it later emerged that the lead author of the study had financial ties to pharma giant Pfizer.

"The key leaders in the so-called sex research community are often very close to the drug companies," says Moynihan. "They together are helping to sort of build the science of this new condition. Whether women buy it or not will be fascinating."

For Moynihan, the larger problem is that pharmaceutical companies are "medicalizing" women's sexual problems so that they can sell drugs, using the invention of a condition as the marketing.

Moynihan proposes that pharmaceutical companies often seek to create "diseases" and "syndromes" and then spend a fortune "educating" doctors on the condition so that they can prescribe medications that patients don't need and that are unlikely to help them.

"Everyone has sexual difficulty. Every relationship goes through periods with sexual difficulties. If you can portray those difficulties as though they were the symptoms of a disorder that needs treatment, you have a massive market," he said.

As yet, Health Canada hasn't approved any medications for "female sexual dysfunction." In fact, just last week, German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim announced it was abandoning plans for experimental pill for low female libido that had been dubbed "female Viagra."

That came after the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. decided in June that the medication, flibanserin, failed to make a significant impact on libido in two studies.

Though women taking the pink pill reported slightly more sexually satisfying experiences, the FDA noted that the pill caused side effects such as depression, fainting and dizziness.

Despite that setback, other companies are still trying to find drugs for women that could rival the massive success of Viagra and other medications for male erectile dysfunction.

Smaller companies are currently developing creams and nasal sprays to increase female libido, and a company called BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. expects to submit its testosterone gel LibiGel for FDA approval next year.