The Blog

By: John Peige, Baltimore Courts Examiner

“The hair growth drug Propecia has come under increasing criticism from doctors and consumers because of devastating side effects that include persistent and permanent male sexual dysfunction, yet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration remains silent on the drug’s safety.

The FDA did issue a warning last year on Propecia’s link to high-grade prostate cancer but has not issued any new warnings or guidance on the permanence of the drug’s sexual side effects — despite a flurry of lawsuits and the growing number of claims by men who say the drug has ruined their lives.

Drug giant Merck, maker of Propecia, has pulled all information on the drug from its official website (www.propecia.com) in the wake of intensifying controversy fueled by former Propecia users.

“I took the drug for nearly 15 months and after stopping have developed extreme penile and testicular shrinkage, loss of libido, genital pain, ED, depression, muscle waste, weight gain, decreased cognitive ability, inability to sleep with medications among other side effects,“ says Steve Rossello, one of the first men to file a lawsuit against drug giant Merck & Co., Propecia’s maker.

“Obviously this has not only ruined my sexuality but my entire life. I know of other sufferers who have lost their jobs, were divorced by their spouse and some have even committed suicide,” says Rossello.

Rossello’s Propecia experience was consistent with 71 other men who were included in a ground-breaking research study published last year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine by George Washington University School of Medicine Assistant Professor Michael S. Irwig, M.D., which was one of the first to report on the drug’s dreadful side effects.

According to the FDA, Merck’s annual Propecia sales are well over $400 million.

In the U.S., the company promotes the use of Propecia for treatment of male pattern hair loss as a safe treatment with little risk. In its product labeling, Merck says side a limited number of users may experience side effects that include sexual dysfunction like decreased libido and erectile dysfunction — but that these side effects resolve after discontinued use of the drug.

In Europe, however, Propecia carries a much stronger warning. “

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