"Female Viagra" Moves Closer to FDA Approval; China Suspected in U.S. Government Data Breach.
CAMEROTA: A new drug to help women rev up their sex drive just clear a key hurdle at the Food and Drug Administration. It could be coming to a pharmacy near you. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with all of the details. Good morning, Elizabeth.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Alisyn, this drug, I know, some people are calling it the female Viagra, and kind of, sort of. Let me tell you a little bit about it -- this is for women who don't have a lot of sexual desire. In fact, some of them had no sexual desire. This drug works on the brain to basically make you feel more sexual desire. And the difference here --</s>CAMEROTA: Yes.</s>COHEN: -- is that the women that took a placebo in the study, 37 percent of them had increased desire, but 53 percent who took the pill, who took the drug, felt an increase in desire. Not a huge difference, but, you know, it's something.</s>CAMEROTA: I mean, what is interesting, just as what you talked about, is the pleasure center off run for women is the brain, you know? It's different than men. Women need to be sort of emotionally stimulated in a different way. So, how does this pill affect that?</s>COHEN: Alisyn, I'll tell you, I was at the FDA hearings the first time around when they were trying to get approval for this drug, and you could sense the frustration the FDA scientists felt, because with men, it's very easy to measure. You take a pill, do you get an erection or don't you? With women, it's completely different. So, with women, what they measured was, did you have a satisfying event? So, that could be anything from an orgasm to feeling closer to your partner, to feeling better self esteem. So, if your self esteem increased, you were considered a success in this study.</s>CAMEROTA: Wow, wow.</s>COHEN: That's a completely different thing that it is for men.</s>CAMEROTA: A satisfying event. That is a euphemism.</s>COHEN: There you go.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, but meanwhile, twice this drug has tried to clear the FDA, and it hasn't been able because of side effects. So, what are the side effects? And what happened this time?</s>COHEN: Right. So, one of the side effects is dizziness. So, they're just concerned that women are going to take this, they're gong to feel dizzy, and women -- you know, you don't take it once when you are having sex, and you take it on an ongoing basis, to change the chemicals, the serotonin and the dopamine in your brain. So, they were concerned about this. So, the company did more studies and they got less concerned, but there is concern especially if women drink alcohol. So, if they are drinking alcohol and they're taking the drug, you need to make sure you don't faint or feel dizzy. But again, the company studies satisfied the FDA to the extent this committee approved it.</s>CAMEROTA: So, who is this drug designed for? How big of a demand is there for female Viagra?</s>COHEN: You know, I think there is a big demand. I mean, talking to therapist and the counselors and to women, there really is an unmet need. What will be interesting to see is, how much difference does this drug take? I mean, drugs like Viagra, they really do seem to make a difference. They get men what they're looking for. Will this get women where they want to be? Because when you see a placebo increased desire by 37 percent, this increased desire by 53 percent. Are women going to feel a difference on this drug in numbers large enough to pay for it? That we'll have to see.</s>CAMEROTA: Is this for all women of all ages or just a particular subset?</s>COHEN: Right. The age is not the issue here. The issue is that doctors are supposed to make sure that a woman has actual low desire. In other words, if a woman comes in and says, I have desire, but you know, it's just things with my husband not going so well. It's not for that woman. It's for a woman who doesn't have any interest in sex, or almost no interest in sex, and that's different. So, some women have sexual issues, not because they lack desire but because things are not going well with their partner. That's two different situations.</s>CAMEROTA: OK. Elizabeth, thanks so much for this. I mean, I think that one of the big burning questions is, will we see more awkward and embarrassing ads at all times during breakfast and dinner? So, Elizabeth, we're going to have you back on the show in a couple hours with a doctor to talk about this development. Thanks so much. See you soon. What's your take? You can tweet us using the #NewDayCNN, or post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay. Chris and I look forward to reading those. We're following a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four million Americans at risk.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possibly the biggest hack we have seen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prime suspect, the People's Republic of China.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the second time this year you have had a large data breach of the federal system by China.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was in possession of the weapon and went after the police.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the three men allegedly involved had been communicating online with known ISIS members.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speak about the Muslims who actually live here who love America, that's me, and that's Usaama, that's the Rahim family.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did recover evidence that links these two shootings together.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fear spreading about a possible serial shooter shocking northern Colorado.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm mad that there is somebody running around on the streets of our town that just took somebody's life.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.</s>CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. Michaela is off today. Up first, a massive government data breach. And U.S. investigators convinced China is behind it. Hackers breaking into government computers, stealing the personal information of at least 4 million current and former federal employees. Officials say this could be the biggest theft of government data ever.</s>CUOMO: China for its part is disputing the allegations with one of the most artful nondenials we have ever heard, saying that by pointing a finger, the U.S. is, quote, "chasing the shadow and clutching the wind." Wow. This story brought to light a secret, the way the NSA deals with this is an Internet spying operation of its own that targets Americans without warrants. We have these stories covered with every angle. Let's start with CNN's Athena Jones at the White House -- Athena.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. We all remember that data breach at Target a couple years ago and the list keeps getting longer -- Sony, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, and even the IRS. And now, what could be the biggest government breach in history suggests the troubling trend is only getting worse.</s>JONES (voice-over): This morning, the U.S. government is struggling to assess the damage. Officials revealing possibly the biggest cyber attack on the U.S. government ever reached their critical networks. Two distinct attacks crept into the federal system, sophisticated and undetectable for months, all the while stealing information from the databases of virtually ever government agency, sensitive information up to 4 million current and former federal employees now in the hands of hackers, including employees at the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration, and even potentially President Obama. Officials say there could be millions more.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These networks are so vast, they are geographically dispersed and very difficult to be able to protect and the reality of it is you can't prevent these attacks.</s>JONES: The suspects according to authorities, a super power, the Peoples' Republic of China. According to officials, evidence points to hackers working for the Chinese military, who may be compiling a massive database for critical information on Americans. Now, federal employees are being cautioned to check their bank statements and get updated credit reports.</s>MARY HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We continue to update our security, but it's a pretty significant challenge.</s>JONES: Hackers have targeted the American government before, just this week, investigators say Russia attacked the IRS and made 100,000 tax returns vulnerable to criminals.