Press Release – Another Law Firm Soliciting Propecia Patients
Snippet from the press release:
The Oklahoma law firm of Atkins & Markoff and its firm members who serve clients as defective drugs attorneys have made the decision to offer people who have used the medication known as Propecia an opportunity to obtain a free and confidential legal consultation regarding their potential legal rights and options regarding possible side effects of permanent sexual dysfunction and impotence.
These free initial legal consultations are meant to provide information and guidance to those who have used Propecia and who feel that they have suffered from alleged Propecia side effects. Consumers who believe they may have been harmed in this manner are encouraged to contact the firm immediately to schedule this free initial consultation.
Read the full press release — Law Firm of Atkins & Markoff Now Offering Free and Confidential Propecia Impotence and Sexual Dysfunction Lawsuit Consultations
The law firm says they specialize in these type of lawsuits, so if you feel wronged by Propecia and are looking for a pay day, they want to talk to you.
The thing about these allegedly permanent side effects is that for the most part, there are no physical manifestation of symptoms or any other type of marker that can be used to determine if the individual is actually experiencing problems or not. So basically anyone who took Finasteride for any period of time can contact these law firms and sue Merck for damages. Hell, I’ve been taking it for 2 years; I could quit, go to a lawyer and say it’s ruined my sex drive and sue for hundreds of thousands. Not that I would ever sink to that level, but I believe many will.
Anecdotally, people report physical symptoms such as shrunken genitals, but I’ve never seen any proof that this could actually happen.
Merck has done their due diligence, and none of the clinical trials on Finasteride have yielded any of these types of problems. Of course there is a chance that a few of the people experiencing these problems have legitimate claims, but I’m willing to bet the vast majority of people suing are due to unrelated medical problems, or they are simply faking it for the money like most personal injury claimants do.
This whole situation has quickly escalated from a public service announcement to a mad scramble for cash. I am willing to bet the recent media attention has something to do with that. There is still absolutely no proof that ‘post finasteride syndrome’ even exists, yet law firms are already beginning to profit from it. It all leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and makes me further question the motives of some of these individuals.
The press release is something that popped up in Google Alerts (not intended to be an endorsement), and the point was to highlight what appears to be a recent “mad scramble for cash”, as Tex mentioned above.
Sorry but nothing in the post suggests the “mad scramble for cash” correctly suggested by Tex. Rather the post notes that “Consumers who believe they may have been harmed in this manner are encouraged to contact the firm immediately to schedule this free initial consultation” with nothing in the further language to clarify or expand.
“The thing about these allegedly permanent side effects is that for the most part, there are no physical manifestation of symptoms or any other type of marker that can be used to determine if the individual is actually experiencing problems or not.”
Untrue, there are neurological and hormonal markers that signal post finasteride syndrome. I personally had a test done which revealed abnormal pudendal nerve function.
“Merck has done their due diligence, and none of the clinical trials on Finasteride have yielded any of these types of problems.”
Again, untrue. They played a few games with the reporting of clinical trials to make the drug appear safe. After some serious sleuthing, I have found evidence of persisting impotence from the clinical trials but you have to retrieve this information from the FDA and not through the publicly available PPI and PI. Merck will be slammed for tort damages and fraud.
Lastly, product liability lawyers typically work on a contingency basis and do not charge hourly fees as Seattle MD proposes. The vast majority of lawyers will not earn any revenue from this scenario until a court case is won. Even though some lawyers earn their living through ways in which may not always be respectable, in no way does that undermine the severity of the post finasteride syndrome problem. I find it utterly reprehensible that you (Rassman and Admin) intimate PFS is less legitimate because there are law firms looking to represent harmed patients.