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Unsealed Documents from Propecia Litigation Now Housed on PFS Foundation Website
June 29, 2021 Dear Friends: The PFS Foundation has launched a new section of its website to house documents from the US Propecia litigation unsealed by court order earlier this year. Part A of our Propecia Litigation Library (Paper Trail), contains 479 pages of such documents, along with 125 pages of related content, including Merck’s […]
In Addition to Blocking 5α-R, Finasteride Inhibits Adrenaline Production, Possibly Inducing Sexual and Psychological Side Effects, New Research Suggests
April 13, 2021 Dear Friends: Phase V of the PFS Foundation-sponsored research at the University of Milano (UniMi) has found that finasteride, a 5-alpha reductase (5α-R) inhibitor, also inhibits phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), an enzyme found primarily in the adrenal gland, which in turn may play a role in producing some of the condition’s most common […]
PFS Foundation Files Supplements to FDA Citizen Petition Seeking Finasteride’s Removal from the Market
February 1, 2021 Dear Friends: The PFS Foundation has filed supplements to its FDA Citizen Petition requesting that the agency “immediately require withdrawal of marketing approval for Propecia…because the risk of serious injury from the drug outweighs its limited benefits.” The two supplements were filed Dec. 1, 2020 and posted publicly late last month on […]
New Hindi-Language Site Adds 615 Million Potential Readers to the PFS Awareness Movement
January 20, 2021 Dear Friends: The nation that gave us such wise figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Srinivasa Ramanujan and Anandibai Joshi just got a bit wiser. With respect to PFS, that is. Now, speakers of the world’s third most popular language can read all about post-finasteride syndrome (aka “पोस्ट-फ़ाइस्टरसाइड सिंड्रोम”) in their native tongue. To […]
Young Men Using Finasteride for Alopecia May Be More Suicide-Prone than the General Population, Says New Pharmacovigilance Research
Nov. 12, 2020 Dear Friends: Men 45 years old and younger who use finasteride for hair loss are three times more likely to experience suicidal ideation, plan their suicide or attempt suicide, according to a new pharmacovigilance investigation. Risk of such suicidality was 63 percent higher than among men using other alopecia medications, including minoxidil […]
Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
Men under the age of 40 who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk for suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.
An important pattern of symptoms was common among all cases who committed suicide in the setting of finasteride use: insomnia and persistent sexual dysfunction after medication discontinuation. Insomnia and fatigue/tiredness were some of the most debilitating symptoms… Men under 40 years of age who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk of suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.
—Finasteride and Suicide: A Postmarketing Case Series: Dermatology, January 14, 2020
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
[PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public.
Much of the medical community has yet to recognize [PFS] as a real clinical entity. Our… analysis indicates that, nonetheless, [PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public that warrants intervention. Thus, it is inappropriate to dismiss this condition.
—Global online interest in finasteride sexual side effects, International Journal of Impotence Research: September 13, 2022
Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!
It’s Monday, which means it’s time for a poll! In evaluating fertility, how do you counsel men taking finasteride for hair loss?… Results are up! Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!
● Stop finasteride: 45.6%
● OK to keep taking: 17.5%
● It depends: 36.8%
—Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (via Twitter): October 11, 2022