Should the Government Pay for Erectile Dysfunction Drugs for Convicted Sex Offenders?
What seems a preposterous question is an issue on which American lawmakers cannot agree
On this day in 2010, in the middle of the most consequential healthcare debate in a generation, the United States Senate took up a question so jarring it sounds almost fabricated:
Should the federal government pay for erectile dysfunction drugs for convicted sex offenders?
I did not stumble on this as a curiosity hunt. I found it the way many revealing details in Washington surface—buried deep in research. While working through pharmaceutical policy and reimbursement decisions, I encountered references to a little-remembered amendment offered during the Affordable Care Act debate. I went back and followed the Senate proceedings as they unfolded.
What emerged was not just an odd legislative footnote. It was a case study in political dysfunction—and the paralysis that grips Congress.
The amendment, introduced by Senator Tom Coburn, sought to bar federal funds from being used to pay for erectile dysfunction drugs for convict…
