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FDA panel votes to approve 'female Viagra' pill

The packed room erupted with applause as the committee voted 18 to 6 to recommend approval.

Experts say the Food and Drug Administration should approve a once-a-day pill to treat women who have lost their sex drive, but says the company should take care to make sure women can take it safely.

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"I have serious, serious, serious safety concerns," said Dr. Walid Gellad of the University of Pittsburgh, one of the panel members who voted to recommend approval anyway. "The benefits are modest, maybe less than modest. But I think that puts it in good company with other approved drugs."

The packed room erupted with applause as the committee voted 18 to 6 to recommend approval. But the FDA is still free to approve the drug or not. It's rejected it twice before.

More than 30 people spoke to a day-long hearing about the drug, which would be the first approved specifically to treat female libido.

The advisers says the company needs to address the risks that the drug causes women to faint, and to take special care to warn women not to use it along with alcohol. 

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.