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Reuters Report on Merck Hiding ‘Secrets’ about Propecia’s Risks Brings our FDA Citizen Petition to Light Ahead of Federal Probe
Sept. 16, 2019 Dear Friends: Dan Levine, an investigative journalist with the largest news agency in the Western world, last week published a 3,900-word investigative report headlined Court let Merck hide secrets about a popular drug’s risks. A year in the making, the Reuters story uncovered testimony by former Merck executives in the US Propecia […]
PFS Awareness Hops the Alps into Italy
Aug. 17, 2019 Dear Friends: The Boot has begun kicking Propecia. Last week, Italian health and lifestyle magazine Starbene, which boasts a weekly circulation of 350,000, ran a story on PFS that begins: The entire world, including Italy, is experiencing a tragedy that requires our attention. It’s that of men, often young, who in hopes […]
2019 PFS Foundation Annual Address
Aug. 4, 2019 Dear Friends: Irrefutable. It’s a word we’re aiming to make synonymous with PFS by August 2022, when this foundation turns 10. That leaves us just 41 months. But if recent activity on the research and regulatory fronts are any indication—to say nothing of the surge in efforts by patients and their loved […]
Epigenetic Modifications Do Occur in PFS Patients, New Research Demonstrates
July 20, 2019 Dear Friends: Phase III of the PFS Foundation-sponsored research at the University of Milano (UniMi), which was designed to “study whether epigenetic modifications occur in PFS patients,” has successfully demonstrated epigenetic modifications in PFS patients. Titled Altered methylation pattern of the SRD5A2 gene in cerebrospinal fluid of post-Finasteride patients, the pilot study […]
Evidence of Increased ED Rates in Finasteride Patients Is ‘More Compelling’ than Evidence Against, Says New Paper in JAAD
June 5, 2019 Dear Friends: PFS naysayers’ days may be numbered. According to new research in the world’s most influential dermatology journal, medical science is leaning further toward the conclusion that finasteride can cause sexual dysfunction in men taking a 1-mg dose for hair loss. The paper, titled Sexual dysfunction in men taking systemic dermatologic […]
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
Health care professionals should…conduct a full evaluation and a…risk-benefit assessment for patients before each prescription of finasteride.
As prescribers, our primary duty is to do no harm. Health care professionals should keep themselves abreast of these potential signals and, accordingly, conduct a full evaluation and a detailed, personalized risk-benefit assessment for patients before each prescription of finasteride.
—Ongoing Concerns Regarding Finasteride for the Treatment of Male-Pattern Androgenetic Alopecia: JAMA Dermatology, November 2020
This drug for young men must be taken off the market.
As of 2018, 15,000 cases of adverse reactions to finasteride were reported to the WHO—which is a huge number to begin with. And the interesting thing is that the average age of this group was 32 to 34 years old… This drug for young men must be taken off the market.
—Documentary on German network NDR titled Side Effects of Finasteride Are Underestimated: January 25, 2021