March 11, 2020 Dear Friends: On February 21, The Wall Street Journal ran a 1,280-word story headlined Losing Your Hair? Why This Solution Is No Longer Shameful, which went, in part, like this: [In 1991]…effective methods like Rogaine or hair plugs were discussed in hushed tones. A… TV ad didn’t mention hair loss, hawking instead […]
February 20, 2020 Dear Friends: “Clinicians should be aware that 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.” That, according to new research by Michael S. Irwig, MD, attending endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, […]
April 29, 2019 Dear Friends: The French are not fond of finasteride. March brought a barrage of media coverage in the nation’s escalating efforts to warn citizens against the medication’s potential dangers. On the broadcast front, three network news programs highlighted the suffering of PFS patients. In a segment on the France 5 program Allo […]
April 11, 2019 Dear Friends: Today marks yet another milestone in PFS awareness: Spanish speakers across the globe can now read all about the condition—aka “síndrome post-finasterida” (SPF)—in their native tongue. To access our Spanish-language content, simply click the Spanish flag aside the search box at the top of any pfsfoundation.org page. To toggle back […]
February 28, 2019 Dear Friends: Could Canada be thawing to the notion of a finasteride-free nation? Earlier this week, our neighbor to the north announced that Propecia and Proscar patients may be at risk for considering and attempting suicide, and mandated that the manufacturer update its product insert to reflect this potential danger. The move […]
February 25, 2019 Dear Friends: PFS awareness is fanning out across Europe faster than a leaky dyke. The latest nation to take up our charge is the Netherlands, via its second-largest newspaper, De Volkskrant, which boasts a daily circulation of more than 250,000. In a 2,600-word story that ran last week, reporter Irene de Zwaan […]
February 10, 2019 Dear Friends: Vive la France! This time we call your attention to a PFS report last week on 66 Minutes, which models itself after the iconic American news magazine 60 Minutes and boasts a Sunday-evening audience of two million viewers. The 14-minute segment, titled Is This Hair-loss Drug Dangerous? (English-subtitled version here), […]
February 2, 2019 Dear Friends: Prompted by an increasing number of adverse drug-reaction reports to finasteride, France’s FDA-equivalent agency yesterday issued a letter to 100,000 health professionals reminding them that patients treated with the drug are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders and persistent sexual disorders. The Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des […]
July 15, 2017 Dear Friends: On July 4, the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced it will revise the warning label on Propecia and its generic versions to include depression and suicidal ideation. The move by South Korea’s equivalent of the US Food and Drug Administration came just six weeks after the […]
February 1, 2019 Dear Friends: Looks like Switzerland’s not so neutral after all. At least when it comes to finasteride. In a SonntagsZeitung story headlined Finasteride was once considered a miracle cure for hair loss. But soon libido disorders and other serious side effects were discovered. Now it’s going to court (English translation here ), […]