In June 2022, the FDA required the addition of ‘suicidal ideation and behavior’ to the Propecia (finasteride 1 mg) label. Read the Reuters story, and learn background in a post: FDA quashed internal warning on suicidality linked to Propecia; changed course in 2022.
In July, France’s national drug regulator ANSM added materials to help patients better understand the risks of finasteride. Find links and details in this tweet.
In August, the New York Post published the first article on lasting harms of finasteride to appear in a high-circulation U.S. newspaper: Propecia users claim drug causes memory loss, ED, suicidal thoughts.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a long feature story on September 18: Israeli Victims of Propecia Speak Out: ‘I Woke Up Into a Nightmare’.
New on this site
A recent post describes forces that prevent sexual dysfunction and neuropsychiatric events from emerging into public view: From the depths: why finasteride harms took decades to emerge.
Two analyses of adverse events have been posted: Disability and deaths in men who used finasteride and Musculoskeletal adverse events.
A new on-ramp for researchers provides context for developing hypotheses and planning future investigations.
New in bibliographies: A summary of clinical trials has been added. The topic bibliography on 5-alpha reductase deficiency has been expanded. Materials were added to the grey literature bibliography.
A historical post describes how hair loss was recast as a medical condition: Hair or manhood—choose one? Two influential studies, published in 1942 and 1974, observed that hair loss is not present when androgens are suppressed. Both studies focused on populations with abnormal male sexual development, foreshadowing sexual abnormalities linked to finasteride and dutasteride.
Two comments by physicians were added to Physicians expressing concerns.