-
Citing 19 Suicides and 170 Reports of Suicidal Ideation, British Regulator MHRA Announces Label Changes and Other Measures to Minimize Finasteride’s Risks
Move comes less than a month after France instituted mandatory informed consent in the drug’s prescription process May 12, 2026 When it comes to cracking down on PFS, Mother England is channeling France. Life-saving advice? Those measures—which include a new warning on the finasteride 1 mg label that sexual dysfunction may contribute to mood disorders—were
-
‘I Couldn’t Find Any Doctor Willing to Help Me… I’m Desperate,’ Jalan Lotfolahpour Wrote to the PFS Foundation at Age 20. Six Years Later, He Was Found Dead After Mixed-Drug Intoxication
‘My son had no history of depression or other chronic medical conditions,’ the PFS patient’s mother told Propecia manufacturer Organon This is the first in a series of reports on young men whose deaths occurred in connection with finasteride. Recently, a number of such cases have been brought to the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation by families
-
Rushing to Relieve Peripheral Neuropathy, WinSanTor Ditches FDA’s Compassionate Use Program and Goes Directly to the State with America’s Most Permissive Right-to-Try Laws
Topical pirenzepine 4%, which new research showed can significantly elevate nerve fiber density in diabetic neuropathy patients, could be available in Montana this year for PFS patient trials March 24, 2026 Dear Friends: Go West, young man—namely to Montana. For there lies potential relief from persistent genital numbness caused by finasteride. Way outside the Beltway
-
Quitting Finasteride Leads to Persistent Behavioral Alterations Including Increased Anxiety-like Conduct and Marked Avoidance of New Experiences, According to New Preclinical Research
Milano Project study No. 2 reveals ‘a dichotomy between immediate and delayed’ effects of the embattled drug March 9, 2026 Dear Friends: If you’ve ever likened PFS to being turned into a bundle of nerves and tossed into solitary confinement, science can now testify on your behalf. Quitters don’t win Last month, Roberto Cosimo Melcangi,
-
Could Undercover Reporting Become the New Norm Among Media Working to Expose Illicit Access to Finasteride?
Since October, sting operations in 3 nations have caught doctors, pharmacists and clinic directors ignoring regulatory guidance, while sometimes breaking the law March 6, 2026 Dear Friends: Who let the watchdogs out? Well, if you’re among the dozens of brave PFS patients worldwide who’ve recently shared your health crises with the press, it was you.
-
France Ratchets up Finasteride-Safety Measures with Mandatory Informed Consent
Shared-information certificate, co-signed by doctor, must be renewed annually Feb. 8, 2026 Dear Friends: Scoring finasteride in France just got beaucoup plus difficile. Last week, the nation’s drug-regulatory authority slapped yet-stricter regulations (English) on the embattled hair-loss drug, namely in the form of what it calls a shared-information certificate. Co-vigilance Beginning April 16, anyone taking
-
BBC Investigation into Illicit Finasteride Advertising Prompts TikTok Takedown of 3 Hair-Loss-InfluencerAccounts
Finasteride doesn’t cause sexual side effects, UK hair-transplant surgeon assures undercover journalist Feb. 5, 2026 Dear Friends: In what may be a finasteride-awareness first, traditional and social media are working together to crack down on fast-and-loose access to the hair-loss pill that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has deemed capable of causing patients to consider
-
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: True to its age-old neutrality ethos, the Swiss government doesn’t seem likely to participate in extracurricular finasteride-safety efforts anytime soon. Channel 1 vs. State The Swiss media, however, is a
-
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 of its seemingly unstoppable ‘round-the-world trajectory, PFS awareness has taken root in The Land Down Under. On Friday, The Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) published the results of its nation’s first-ever
-
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 the attitude these days among Italian pharmacists, at least when it comes to finasteride. Last month, the Rome-based TV news magazine FarWest (Rai 3) debuted a documentary titled The Undisclosed
-
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. 13, 2025 Flying in the face of cowardly stereotypes, France isn’t retreating so much as one centimeter on the finasteride front. Instead, the nation where at least 26,000 men take
-
‘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 pleased to report that the global court of public opinion on PFS is finally in session, with its first order of business being this pressing question: “Who is liable for
-
Israel Issues Safety Alert on Suicidal Ideation During Finasteride Therapy
Warning marks first ‘Dear Doctor’ letter by a regulatory authority in the wake of recent FDA and EMA finasteride-safety actions August 16, 2025 Dear Friends: Holy (Land) PFS awareness! On August 7, the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) issued a safety warning (English) to health care providers nationwide about the potential for suicidal ideation among
-
2025 PFS Foundation Annual Address
Aug. 4, 2025 Dear Friends: If you type “PFS” and “extremely rare” into your Google Search box, you will immediately find an article by the Wimpole hair-transplant clinic of London titled Post-Finasteride Syndrome: Should You Be Worried? If you click on this article, which is characteristic of umpteen others popping up in such searches, you
-
Allopregnanolone Alleviates Some Symptoms of Finasteride-induced Inflammation in Both the Gut and Hypothalamus of Rats, First Milano Project Study Demonstrates
Quitting the drug also modulates potential PFS biomarker PPAR-α, while ALLO restores expression of that gene July 21, 2025 Dear Friends: Gastrointestinal distress? Muscle weakness? Blood-pressure fluctuations? Rapid weight gain? Poor bone health? Reduced vision? Headaches? Insomnia? If you’re a former finasteride user plagued by such persistent side effects, relief could one day come in
-
Finasteride Linked to Cognitive Dysfunction, Suggests Convergent Evidence from Both Epidemiological Studies and Pharmacovigilance Surveillance
Belgium, meanwhile, sides with France that—EMA be damned—the benefits of finasteride don’t outweigh the risks of psychiatric disorders and sexual dysfunction June 16, 2025 Dear Friends: China just raised a gigantic red flag, joining France, Canada, Britian, Spain, Russia, and the US in their global march for PFS awareness. Last week, researchers at the
-
France Rejects EMA’s Recommendations Following Confirmation of Suicidal Ideation as a Finasteride Side Effect
Despite enacting world’s strictest finasteride-safety measures three years ago, ‘serious cases of psychiatric disorders and sexual dysfunction continue to be reported,’ reasons ANSM May 23, 2025 Dear Friends: Looks like a “Frexit” is afoot in Europe, at least when it comes to helping prevent finasteride patients from taking their own lives. Yesterday, French drug-regulatory authority
-
Urology Chair at William Beaumont School of Medicine Soliciting Input for Study on Long-term Side Effects of Finasteride, SSRIs and Other Potentially Damaging Rx
‘I’m passionate about getting to the bottom of’ post-drug syndromes, says Dr. Kenneth Peters May 20, 2025 Dear Friends: If you’ve ever groused that there’s not enough PFS research in the works, you’ll be pleased to learn that Kenneth M. Peters, MD, not only agrees, he’s on a mission to correct this epidemiological injustice. “In
-
Finasteride ADRs Soar 10,000% Week Over Week, Says World Health Organization
Startling rise exceeds 2024 record by 42%—with 6 months still to go in 2025—and includes 119 new reports of suicidal ideation May 17, 2025 Dear Friends: At this speed, a “crash” could spell epidemiological disaster. Week over week, the all-time number of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) for finasteride rose from 22,297 to 25,329, or 13%,
-
European Medicines Agency Confirms Finasteride ‘Can Cause Suicidal Thoughts’
Patient-alert card and ‘Dear Doctor’ letter will be rolled out in effort to minimize risk of this frequently-debilitating, sometimes-fatal ADR May 11, 2025 Dear Friends: From Sweden to Spain—and in 25 nations along the way—thinking about killing yourself is now an official side effect of finasteride. On Thursday, the European Medicinces Agency (EMA) released the
