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Adverse drug reaction reports worldwide
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Known suicides worldwide
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Newsroom
- Swiss Broadcasting Corp.’s Medical Docu Series 36.9° Seeks a Second Opinion After Local Drug Regulatory Authority Swissmedic Remains Neutral on EMA’s Finasteride-Safety Probe
Editor of esteemed French pharma journal Prescrire says market withdrawal of the drug is sole solution to ensuring patient safety Nov. 29, 2025 Dear Friends:… Read more: Swiss Broadcasting Corp.’s Medical Docu Series 36.9° Seeks a Second Opinion After Local Drug Regulatory Authority Swissmedic Remains Neutral on EMA’s Finasteride-Safety Probe - Australian Media Swoops into the PFS-Awareness Movement with Investigative Report Prompting Nation’s Drug Regulatory Agency to Crack Down on Label-Compliance Violations by Finasteride Makers
Sandoz and Accord marketed their products with no mention of depression or suicidal ideation Nov. 18, 2025 Dear Friends: G’day indeed! In the latest leg… Read more: Australian Media Swoops into the PFS-Awareness Movement with Investigative Report Prompting Nation’s Drug Regulatory Agency to Crack Down on Label-Compliance Violations by Finasteride Makers - Italy Roars into Global PFS-Awareness March with an Investigative Report in Which 4 Out of 5 Pharmacists Dispense Rx-free Finasteride to Undercover Journalist
‘Selling a prescription drug without a prescription is a crime,’ cautions FarWest host Salvo Sottile Nov. 8, 2025 Dear Friends: Arrivederci, Rx! So apparently goes… Read more: Italy Roars into Global PFS-Awareness March with an Investigative Report in Which 4 Out of 5 Pharmacists Dispense Rx-free Finasteride to Undercover Journalist - Absent of Sexual ADRs or Pre-existing Psychiatric Conditions, Finasteride Patients Can Still Develop Severe Depressive Symptoms Including Suicidality, Says New Research
French drug regulator ANSM, meanwhile, turned up 2 new suicides after the EMA ruled in May that the benefits of 5-ARIs outweigh the risks Oct.… Read more: Absent of Sexual ADRs or Pre-existing Psychiatric Conditions, Finasteride Patients Can Still Develop Severe Depressive Symptoms Including Suicidality, Says New Research - ‘Hundreds to Thousands’ of Men Might Have Died by Suicide Due to PFS, Reasons Expert Witness in Propecia Litigation
Testimony prompted first known systematic review of evidence supporting a causal link between finasteride 1 mg and neuropsychiatric reactions Sept. 26, 2025 Dear Friends: We’re… Read more: ‘Hundreds to Thousands’ of Men Might Have Died by Suicide Due to PFS, Reasons Expert Witness in Propecia Litigation
Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
[T]he solution that would best protect people would be for the drug to be withdrawn from the market.
Studies have shown that, at best, finasteride increases the density of hair on the top of the head by 10%… But behind this is real suffering linked to the disorder to which this drug exposes us… The problem is that the drug is still on the market. It is prescribed. So potentially, patients will be exposed to severe side effects. So for us, the solution that would best protect people would be for the drug to be withdrawn from the market.
—Hair Loss, Hair Transplants & Hormones: The Silent Suffering of Thousands of Young People: Radio Télévision Suisse, Oct. 8, 2025
When we explain the side effects, at least a third of the patients decide not to take [finasteride].
What is a bit scary is this risk of sexual problems. When we explain the side effects, at least a third of the patients decide not to take it… [The European Medicines Agency’s finasteride investigation] grabs our attention because we need to evaluate our patients to see if they have depressive tendencies. This makes us think twice when prescribing the medication.
—Hair Loss, Hair Transplants & Hormones: The Silent Suffering of Thousands of Young People: Radio Télévision Suisse, Oct. 8, 2025
Two subjects—eight percent—committed suicide during or after the study.
While the sexual side effects of 5ARIs are well known, there may be persistent genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, anti-androgenic and penile vascular changes after 5ARI discontinuation. Use of 5ARIs for treatment of AGA may lead to persistent sexual, genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, and anti-androgenic sequelae even after cessation of 5ARI therapy… Two subjects (8%) committed suicide during or after the study.
—Penile vascular abnormalities in young men with persistent side effects after finasteride use for the treatment of androgenic alopecia: Translational Andrology and Urology, April 2020
Belgium considers that the benefit-risk ratio of finasteride 1 mg in androgenic alopecia is negative.
The [EMA] concluded that a causal relationship between oral finasteride 1 mg and suicidal thoughts has been confirmed and that a positive benefit-risk ratio in the indication androgenic alopecia remains positive when appropriate risk mitigation measures are implemented. However, analysis of the data clearly revealed new aspects of the risks associated with psychiatric disorders and sexual dysfunction. These risks significantly alter the safety profile of oral finasteride 1 mg for the approved indication for androgenic alopecia… The expected benefits of stabilizing hair loss in this benign condition do not outweigh the severity of these risks, with potentially fatal consequences, in the target population of young, healthy patients. Consequently, Belgium considers that the benefit-risk ratio of finasteride 1 mg in androgenic alopecia is negative.
—New Risk Mitigation Measures for Finasteride and Dutasteride, FAMPH News: May 12, 2025
Patients & Loved Ones Crying Out
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Mother of Patient
He was a happy, easy going, kind and caring teenager and Propecia has made him mentally disabled.
My son, 31, had a mild form of BDD and was worried about his hair thinning and took Propecia in 2013. He was taking it for 4 years during which his personality changed beyond recognition and I suspect he developed PFS. He experienced severe side effects: insomnia, loss of libido, obsessive thoughts, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. These deteriorated since he stopped taking Propecia in 2017. He was no longer able to go to work, lost the ability to sleep well, was unable to care for his 2 daughters and is feeling increasingly suicidal. He had to go to the emergency department twice this year and now is in a mental hospital in New York. Vulnerable young people should not be prescribed Propecia so easily and drug producers should provide a clear warning about such dangerous side effects. I believe Propecia ruined his health, career and life. He was a happy, easy going, kind and caring teenager and Propecia has made him mentally disabled. I’m very upset and do not know what to do.
GL, 62, Oxford, England: Aug. 3, 2018
Condition update: September 2020
No improvement
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Mother of Patient
He’d been using topical medications for 5 years and decided to try Finesteride. That was the beginning of a nightmare.
My son was a healthy, smart ambitious 28-year-old man who was going back to school at Suffolk University with a 4.0. He also worked and was in fantastic health, climbing mt Washington in 4 hours for fun. He was, however, battling losing his hair. He’d been using topical medications for 5 years and decided to try Finesteride. That was the beginning of a nightmare. His sister was getting married Alugust 18th. 4 days before the wedding it started…muscle spasms, nonstop and severe anxiety. He had only been on it for 3 months. He immediately stopped taking it but it has continued for the last 5 months. Now though, he is in pain. He has been seeing a neurologist, and is convinced he must have ALS, although so far the tests do not point to that. He started seeing a therapist also hoping it was stress. But the pain and twitching and insomnia are real. He does not currently have any erectile issues thankfully but the physical and mental stress he experiences is horrible. He continues to search foir answers but i am convinced it is from the Finesteride.
LM, Lowell, MA: Jan. 6, 2019
Condition update: August 2020
Slightly worse
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PFS Patient (male)
I am living now for seven years with my parents in their tiny apartment and do not know what to do.
I am 35 years old and have this Syndrome since I have been 24 years old. My Life was smashed and destroyed after I started with Finasteride. I can’t stop thinking about this one moment I decided to go to this special Doctor who treats hairloss. I was 24 years young and I had full beautiful hair. This Doctor made some tests and scared the shit out of me my prognosing a full bald me in a few years. I trusted him and took the pills he gave me. Safe pills he said. No side-effects. Soon after I started the pills my life made a u-turn. I was finishing university and had already found a new job in a new city. That’s when I start to enter hell. I lost my mind and had the most disgusting mental health issues. I had to go to the hospital and started with suicide thoughts. It was an absolute nightmare! Fast Forward. I am living now for seven years with my parents in their tiny apartment and do not know what to do. I feel a bit better because I take a lot of different medications but I can not go outside or even read a book because I feel sedated. I really do not know what to do with my life.
HH, 35, Stuttgart, Germany: Feb. 3, 2019
Condition update: September 2020
No improvement