Wash n' Gone said:5AR inhibitors do cause birth defects. There is a reason they are for men only and women are not to handle crushed or broken tablets. I have a leaflet that I got with my Propecia that says, to quote directly, "Men should not take Propecia if their partner is Pregnant or they and their partner are trying to have a Baby" - this is the advice from my prescribing pharmacy and also UK health authorities so Merycks own advice (that the risk to a pregnant woman only exists from handling or taking Propecia) isn't universally accepted. The risk is only theoretical and none of the studies can rule it out completely - only confirm that the chances are extremely remote.
I thought that insert about sex precautions was removed from the Propecia info sheet? There's nothing on the last one I had, purchased last year.
The Proscar info sheet:
Exposure to finasteride: risk to male foetus
A small amount of finasteride, less than 0.001% of the 1 mg dose per ejaculation, has been detected in the seminal fluid of men taking 'Propecia'. Studies in Rhesus monkeys have indicated that this amount is unlikely to constitute a risk to the developing male foetus (see Section 5.3).
During continual collection of adverse experiences, post-marketing reports of exposure to finasteride during pregnancy via semen of men taking 1 mg or higher doses have been received for eight live male births, and one retrospectively-reported case concerned an infant with simple hypospadias. Causality cannot be assessed on the basis of this single retrospective report and hypospadias is a relatively common congenital anomaly with an incidence ranging from 0.8 to 8 per 1000 live male births. In addition, a further nine live male births occurred during clinical trials following exposure to finasteride via semen, during pregnancy, and no congenital anomalies have been reported.
Crushed or broken tablets of 'Propecia' should not be handled by women when they are or may potentially be pregnant because of the possibility of absorption of finasteride and the subsequent potential risk to a male foetus. 'Propecia' tablets are coated to prevent contact with the active ingredient during normal handling, provided that the tablets are not broken or crushed.