Class action lawsuit against manufacturer of Propecia & Pros

[Ori83]

recieved this E-mail from "some other forum" which i wont post the name of, but this is the E-mail.
N-j00y! jauouwly folks

"Lawsuit filed for men who suffer sexual dysfunction after using hair loss drug.

VANCOUVER, Jan. 24 /CNW/ - A class action was filed today in the Supreme Court of British Columbia by Vancouver resident, Michael Miller, against Merck Frosst Canada and its affiliated companies. The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of Canadian men who used Propecia or Proscar and suffered continuing sexual dysfunction.

Propecia and Proscar are prescribed as a cosmetic treatment for male pattern hair loss also known as androgenic alopecia. The product monograph discloses that some men may experience sexual dysfunction but states that the symptoms disappear after cessation of the drug.

Mr. Miller, who is in his early 20s, was concerned when his hair started to thin in some areas. He was prescribed Proscar which he hoped would stop his hair from thinning. After about a month of use he noticed a drastic change in his behaviour, "I lost my interest in sex and I felt anxious in social situations for no particular reason," he says. While on the drug, his symptoms of sexual dysfunction increased as the months passed. When he could no longer bear the side effects, he stopped using Proscar but these symptoms didn't go away: "My sexual functioning has not recovered, I have seen specialists and have tried treatments but nothing has worked," says Mr. Miller.

According to Mr. Miller's lawyer, David Klein, "The product labels have been changed in several European countries to include a warning of persistent erectile dysfunction after discontinuation of the drug but this change has not been made on the Canadian product labels." It is alleged that the drug manufacturers failed to adequately warn Canadians of the true risks.

Klein also says, "So far, more than 80 Canadian men have expressed an interest in participating in the class action. We believe there are many other men who will come forward now that the case has been filed in court."

Mr. Miller is represented by Klein Lyons, one of Canada's most experienced class action law firms."

i cross my fingers for thisone.

 

[somone uk]

i have never really found any reputable physician that backs the "permanent side effects" accusation

an obese, alcoholic smoker with heart problems will sooner blame Propecia on his ED rather than being a fat, drunk smoker
my point is there is a lack of significant evidence that propecia causes ED permanently but people are more likely to blame the drug first rather than look for other causes

i would be very pissed off if this lawsuit gets propecia pulled off the market

 

[Ori83]

Klein Lyons wont put their *** on the line if they wouldn't have something on Merk...

if this will pass (hopefully) then the demand for a cure will increase significantly which is a good thing eventually...

 

[somone uk]

i have never really found any reputable physician that backs the "permanent side effects" accusation

an obese, alcoholic smoker with heart problems will sooner blame Propecia on his ED rather than being a fat, drunk smoker
my point is there is a lack of significant evidence that propecia causes ED permanently but people are more likely to blame the drug first rather than look for other causes

i would be very pissed off if this lawsuit gets propecia pulled off the market

That's complete BS man, have you ever heard of Propecia help.com? Have you not read the posts by users on this forum? Enden was diagnosed with hypogonadism after finasteride use, he still has it! This condition does not naturally occur in men his age....It gets to a point where you have to start to look at trhe anecodtal evidence as well.

"naturally" is a deceiving word
and i am sure he isn't the first man his age to get hypogonadism, the problem is this does by no means rule out that it was a coincidence and we don't know how many men with hypogonadism are on finasteride or how many are not so it is a completely meaningless thing to say a man on propecia has hypogonadism.
There is a reason scientists dismiss anecdotal evidence and that is because it's not evidence at all
and for the record i have heard of propecia help but i am still highly unconvinced by their argument

if this will pass (hopefully) then the demand for a cure will increase significantly which is a good thing eventually...

it wouldn't bring the cure any quicker, investment/demand is not the limiting factor on future cures

 

[Nene]

Enden also admits that he used steroids. So let's not be quick to blame everything on finasteride.

 

[Nene]

Aren't steroids supposed to shrink your balls? Isn't that essentially what hypogonadism is? Shrunken balls? The way you said he takes steroids is like it's some sort of legit treatment, he admitted to using steroids that are illegal, at least in the US.

 

[cuebald]

What were his test levels before he started finasteride?

 

[somone uk]

Yeah surely, you're right. I'm sure all of these guys are just full of sh*t, they must be lying about their Suboptimal blood hormone levels. For someone who's constantly bringing up science, you sure don't seem to know much about it. Men Endens age do not naturally develop Hypogonadism that is a fact, ask any physician, they just don't. He didn't have it before Finasteride and he has it now, he has the blood tests to prove it! He is not the only person by any means to have developed ongoing side effects from Finasteride.

Many doctors are acknowledging this now, and are currently conducting research. Do you really think everyone on propecia help is full of sh*t? Do you really think these guys are making this up? What would their motive be?


Anecdotal evidence leeds to scientific studies, it is the precursor of scientific studies and clinical trials. There was acnecdotal evidence that Darvocet caused heart failure and death, but the scientific evidence from the clinical trials, claimed that it was safe! The anecdotal claims were ignored for many years (as you are ignoring Finasteride's) but recently the anecdotal reports were discovered to be true, and Darvocet was banned and pulled off the market two months ago, it turned out the anecdotal reports about Darvocet were true, it turned out that Darvocet was killing people, yet the clinical trials deemed it safe, it took them 30+ years before they pulled it from the market! You can't base all of your trust on the clinical trials!

Studies refute anecdotal claims much more often than often than vindicate them
i am not saying this isn't worthy of an investigation but i am saying that anecdotal evidence is weak evidence at best and definately can't hold up on it's own

 

[somone uk]

Yeah surely, you're right. I'm sure all of these guys are just full of sh*t, they must be lying about their Suboptimal blood hormone levels. For someone who's constantly bringing up science, you sure don't seem to know much about it. Men Endens age do not naturally develop Hypogonadism that is a fact, ask any physician, they just don't. He didn't have it before Finasteride and he has it now, he has the blood tests to prove it! He is not the only person by any means to have developed ongoing side effects from Finasteride.

Many doctors are acknowledging this now, and are currently conducting research. Do you really think everyone on propecia help is full of sh*t? Do you really think these guys are making this up? What would their motive be?


Anecdotal evidence leeds to scientific studies, it is the precursor of scientific studies and clinical trials. There was acnecdotal evidence that Darvocet caused heart failure and death, but the scientific evidence from the clinical trials, claimed that it was safe! The anecdotal claims were ignored for many years (as you are ignoring Finasteride's) but recently the anecdotal reports were discovered to be true, and Darvocet was banned and pulled off the market two months ago, it turned out the anecdotal reports about Darvocet were true, it turned out that Darvocet was killing people, yet the clinical trials deemed it safe, it took them 30+ years before they pulled it from the market! You can't base all of your trust on the clinical trials!

Studies refute anecdotal claims much more often than often than vindicate them
i am not saying this isn't worthy of an investigation but i am saying that anecdotal evidence is weak evidence at best and definately can't hold up on it's own

I agree that more research needs to be conducted. But as I pointed out earlier it took over 30 years before the research caught up to the facts in the case of Darvocet. Finasteride may yeild a similar outcome...

but i say finestride should be "innocent until proven guilty" rather than the other way round. unproven anecdotal claims have on the flipside been damaging in the past as well like when people thought MMR caused autism parents refused to vaccinate their children
anecdotal evidence is not only weak evidence but it has the illusion of being strong evidence

 

[CCS]

Yeah surely, you're right. I'm sure all of these guys are just full of sh*t, they must be lying about their Suboptimal blood hormone levels. For someone who's constantly bringing up science, you sure don't seem to know much about it. Men Endens age do not naturally develop Hypogonadism that is a fact, ask any physician, they just don't. He didn't have it before Finasteride and he has it now, he has the blood tests to prove it! He is not the only person by any means to have developed ongoing side effects from Finasteride.

Many doctors are acknowledging this now, and are currently conducting research. Do you really think everyone on propecia help is full of sh*t? Do you really think these guys are making this up? What would their motive be?


Anecdotal evidence leeds to scientific studies, it is the precursor of scientific studies and clinical trials. There was acnecdotal evidence that Darvocet caused heart failure and death, but the scientific evidence from the clinical trials, claimed that it was safe! The anecdotal claims were ignored for many years (as you are ignoring Finasteride's) but recently the anecdotal reports were discovered to be true, and Darvocet was banned and pulled off the market two months ago, it turned out the anecdotal reports about Darvocet were true, it turned out that Darvocet was killing people, yet the clinical trials deemed it safe, it took them 30+ years before they pulled it from the market! You can't base all of your trust on the clinical trials!

Studies refute anecdotal claims much more often than often than vindicate them
i am not saying this isn't worthy of an investigation but i am saying that anecdotal evidence is weak evidence at best and definately can't hold up on it's own

I don't doubt there really are people who get side effects from finasteride. I just think a disproportionate number of them post on this board, and guys with success just go on with their life. The only news I see here is that some of the side effects are long lasting, unlike what the phase three studies found.

I hope Merk is just required to give more detailed warnings, and that finasteride is not taken off the shelf. Finasteride works great for many guys. It works wonders for me. I don't know what I'd do without it. If that law suit starts to win, I will stock up on a lot of finasteride. Can't do that with a prescription.

 

[captain_que]

Every treatment has side effects, but the sides of finasteride are not adequately known. My derm knew nothing about the possible sides; I had to enlighten him.
Not everyone hangs around hairloss sites, they just go to their Doctor. The Doctor might tell them the drug is totally innocent, because they don´t know any better, and the patient starts treatment unaware of what could happen.
The patient and doctor needs to make more educated decisions as to whether it is worth the risk, and keep track of blood levels.
This lawsuit may help in bringing the issue to the doctor´s attention.

 

[Ori83]

Either this, or at least they should find how to cancel the sides.

 

[regret]

I signed up simply to comment on this thread.

Somone, if you had actually done some research on finasteride you would see that there are plenty of studies pointing out how damaging finasteride is to the male body. It's not just ED, but also breast cancer and depression. I only wish someone had explained it to me before i started taking it. I still find it hard to believe that even knowing what you know you still choose to take such a risk with your health, especially for something as trivial as hair.

You say that no credible doctor has spoken about persistent finasteride sides? Dr. Alan Jacobs is a harvard graduate neuro-endocrinologist who has written about persistant finasteride sides on several occasions. Who do you consider to be a credible doctor? The guy trying to sell you a hair transplant?

Second of all, if you think you can trust Merck's BS about 2% sides then you are deluding yourself. This is the most unethical company on the planet. Ever heard of Vioxx? Merck knew that Vioxx significantly increased the risk of heart attack and stroke and deliberately hid that information from consumers and the FDA so as not to damage their revenue stream. They also tried to discredit doctors who spoke out against the drug. It's estimated that as many as 55,000 people died unnecessarily as a result of that drug. This company would sell cyanide to school children if they could make a profit from it.

Merck will lie, bribe and threaten whoever they need to get their drugs on the market and know that as long as they suppress anecdotal side effects from a drug long enough then it doesn't matter because the total revenue will outweigh the cost of the law suit. That is their business model.

 

[cuebald]

is that you again Concerned11 ?

 

[regret]

No, i am a sufferer of persistent side effects from finasteride, that is all you need to know.

I don't generally have anything to do with hair loss sites because i have accepted my hair loss, it is now the least of my problems.