Medical research regarding the popular Pfizer sexual-enhancement drug Viagra has changed significantly over the past few years, especially regarding Viagra’s link with melanoma skin cancer.

Previously, researchers believed Viagra could be prescribed to treat melanoma. However, as of last year, cutting-edge research from Harvard suggests the opposite is true and that the drug actually increases a man’s risk of developing Viagra melanoma skin cancer.

According to a study conducted by a German immunologist at the University Medical Centre Mannheim and later published in the November 2011 edition of Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, Viagra (also known as sildenafil) “may contribute to achieving better treatment results in malignant melanoma.”

This 2011 Viagra melanoma study drew its data from animal testing performed on mice who are known to develop skin cancer and experience chronic inflammation caused by the malignant melanoma similar to human test subjects.

However, a more recent 2014 Viagra melanoma study contradicts these earlier findings, and as a result, many individuals are now filing Viagra lawsuits against Pfizer in state and federal courts across the nation.

According to one of the latest Viagra melanoma lawsuits, a wife filed this Viagra lawsuit on behalf of her now 64-year-old husband, who two years ago was diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma, a condition she alleges occurred as a direct result of using Viagra.

The Viagra melanoma lawsuit states that the plaintiff’s husband never demonstrated outward physical signs of skin cancer and the source of his melanoma cancer was never fully determined.

Two years ago, the plaintiff alleges her husband began experiencing back pains and was originally misdiagnosed with arthritis. Eventually, an MRI of his spine revealed several tumors rooted in a melanoma diagnosis.

After round upon round of radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, and multiple surgeries and immunotherapy drugs, her husband is out of options and will likely die from melanoma skin cancer.

Viagra Study Suggests Increased Risk of Skin Cancer

As previously mentioned, a recent 2014 Viagra study performed by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and published in JAMA suggests that the use of Viagra and other erectile enhancing drugs may increase a man’s chances of developing melanoma skin cancer.

The Viagra research was based on data curated by Harvard over the course of 10 years, following the lives of 26,000 male research participants, some of whom used Viagra regularly. The Harvard study reported that 3,500 of the 26,000 men developed skin cancer, allegedly caused by their use of Viagra. Of these 3,500 Viagra skin cancer consumers, 142 specifically developed melanoma skin cancer, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

According to the Viagra study, men who take Viagra on the regular basis are 84 percent more likely to develop skin cancer, especially the more deadly melanoma skin cancer, than other men who did not consume the erectile enhancing drug.

Harvard researchers also looked at participants’ genetics, UV damage, and other skin cancer risk factors and found that these other cancer factors did not affect the findings of the Viagra melanoma study. In light of this study and other consumer reports, hundreds of men may file Viagra skin cancer lawsuits or join Viagra skin cancer class action lawsuits.