Has Merck Accepted That Propecia Has Prolonged Side Effects?
Dr. Rassman,
Thank you for your dedication to this blog site, it has been a source of great comfort on an issue that is often brushed under the table. Please respond at the very least by private message because I would really like to have a better understanding of what is happening.
Now that merck admits to prolonged site effects, do you at all feel betrayed? as looking back at most of the content on this website, you are rather adamant that any side effects will go away when propecia is discontinued…
as a propecia user myself, the idea of myself, or another young male in their 20’s losing normal bodily function permanently seems devastating to say the very least! even if the drug works well on 99%, and one out of 100 take it have a permanent reaction, then is that even really worth it? lives being ruined?
What is your whole hearted suggestion in light of recent developments, ie. class action suit, website removal etc. for someone like me. Do we stop taking the medicine? common sense says it takes a hell of a lot for a pharma giant like merck to take down their website. and it takes a hell of a lot of evidence to form a class action suit.
and at this point mercks acceptance of prolonged side effects almost negates the original clinical studies all together…no?
No. Every drug has its risks. I don’t believe that Merck knowingly withheld information from the public. The FDA and the drug companies work together to control safety and effectiveness, but they are never 100% certain that everything is covered.
One of my three sons is still on Propecia and I endorse his decision. He looked at his mother’s side of the family and saw Norwood class 6 balding patterns. Now he has all of his hair. I don’t know what his pattern would have been like had he not taken the drug when he was 29 and an early class 3 pattern, certainly not his mother’s family line. My son has had no side effects (same as most of my patients).
I always tell my patients of the risks, and they then make their own decisions as consenting, educated, knowledgeable adults. Pulling down a website and seeing advertisements for law firms trying to collect enough people to sue them isn’t enough for me to believe Merck is admitting guilt.
I find your cavalier attitude to be quite disrespectful which is why I rarely find myself spending time on these types of forums. You are correct in saying that the FDA is weighing the risks versus the efficacy of finasteride, and you can be sure that hard data prompted the investigation.
I do not have any personal insight into whether Merck is upholding a cover-up but it would be very foolish to expect the company to be forthcoming with any information they have about their drug.
The investigation is an extension of their routine drug monitoring process. They will not investigate the safety of a drug based off of things like internet rumors, but a sufficiently strong signal from their data collection will trigger such an investigation.
I’m not really in a position to draw my own conclusions since I have not personally sifted through the FDA files so you will have to wait for the results of the FDA investigation. They have still not yet accepted Merck’s revised label regarding the admission of reports of sexual dysfunction and this investigation will determine, in part, whether they deem this new label to be sufficient.
As I mentioned before, your belief that you will individually be able to gather and interpret data is quite cavalier. You do not personally have access to nearly the same amount of information that the FDA, or even Merck has, for that matter.
I’m afraid you will just have to wait for the results of their investigation, but I personally would not be surprised in the slightest if they determined there was a likely causal connection.
There is no long-term data. That is the point. This stuff only got prescribed for hair loss starting–what–in the late 90s? Also, the drug was not tested at a lower dose for efficacy for hair loss, just 1MG. It would be useful–but expensive–for someone to test it at lower doses for effectiveness.
What happened to the other 8 comments???
I’ve even noticed some of my commments being deleted in other threads as well?
Censorship?? Germany 1939??? LOL!
What’s up with that Dr. Rassman??
We are aware some comments here and on other posts are not showing up. We have not deleted them. We believe there is a bug in WordPress or someone has managed to gain admin access to the site. We will work on this.