Posts Tagged ‘ Propecia ’
Hey Guys, Are you in a State of Propecia Sexual Dysfunction?
June 10th, 2016. By AbiK
UPDATE: Since we first published this post (7/24/11), we reviewed the states in which we’ve received complaints regarding Propecia–some of which have had lawsuits filed. Forty-six US states have now been represented by Propecia complaints. The states shown in blue above are those that have seen complaints since the original post was published, below.
This whole Propecia sexual dysfunction thing got me wondering if there were any patterns (male pattern baldness aside) to where guys were experiencing the most negative Propecia sexual side effects, allegedly brought on by Propecia for hair loss treatment.
Being a data geek at heart, I took a look at where all these guys have been coming from—thinking that surely they’d hover around image-conscious L.A. or Miami—or in more major metro employment hotbeds where one might be concerned about age discrimination upon walking into an interview with a receding hairline—places like New York City or Boston or Chicago.
But it seems Propecia and its reported not-so-nice sexual side effects don’t discriminate—or at least not obviously so. Take a look above—the gray states are those from which LawyersandSettlements.com has received comments and complaints from guys sharing their Propecia sex problem stories. There’s no readily discernible pattern as to where guys who’ve taken Propecia and experienced sexual problems live. Propecia problems, it seems, have been happening allover. (And no, Hawaii and Alaska aren’t here, nor have I included Canada—but we’ve heard complaints from each).
To be clear, we’re not talking a low-key kind of sexual not-in-the-mood thing. These are guys who allege the mind is willing, wanting and very in the mood, but the body is not, shall we say, ramping up to support the mood. Alleged Propecia sexual side effects include a wide range of sexual dysfunction: erectile dysfunction, inability to ejaculate, low sperm count—leading to inability to conceive, and yes, even lack of sexual desire. Not the things a virile young (or older) man wants to be dealing with as he’s in the prime of his dating years or trying to start a family or just trying to remain intimate with his wife.
And, I don’t think I need to tell you that the situation doesn’t only affect the guys here—there’s that “other half” who’s involved. After a while, a Propecia victim may find himself absent-mindedly humming a Doors’ medley that started nicely enough with “Light my Fire” (as in, “C’mon baby…”) and ended with the more frustrating “Don’t you love her as she’s walking out the door”…as for some women, walking out will be exactly what they do.
My fear is that the above map is only the beginning as more men begin to come forward and share their stories. It takes guts to admit one’s short-comings and to reveal sexual inadequacy vs. dancing around it or remaining in denial about it takes a set of you know what—particularly when it’s as a result of trying to overcome another ego-deflator: hair loss. But if you’re in a state of sexual dysfunction and you think it’s a result of Propecia side effects, better to be in a state that’s complaining vs. a state of denial. Get some help.
Top 10 Drug Legal News Topics For 2012
December 24th, 2012. By AbiK
LawyersandSettlements.com recently shared its list of the hottest consumer-related pharmaceutical legal news stories during the last year. Of note is that while the top drug-related topic on the legal news website in 2011 had been Tylenol—prompted by concerns over a series of Tylenol recall notices as reported by The New York Times; for 2012, the most sought out pharmaceutical topics have shifted to women’s health.
Third-generation contraceptives such as Yasmin/Yaz, NuvaRing and Mirena top the list this year as numerous birth control lawsuits either settled, or began the process of consolidation into multi-district litigation (MDL).
Reader interest in Yaz/Yasmin rose in response to Yasmin lawsuit settlements that were announced in April (In re Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation, 09-md-02100, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis). Bloomberg reported Bayer AG settled about 500 Yasmin lawsuits over claims of blood clots that had, in some cases, led to stroke or heart attack.
Along with Yaz, readers remained concerned about NuvaRing (etonogestrel/ethinyl estradiol) and blood clot risk even as a new study on non-oral hormonal contraception, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2012;344:e2990), was presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (May, 2012). The study, aimed at quantifying NuvaRing blood clot risk, indicated no significant difference in risk of venous thromboembolism when compared to oral contraceptives.
Still, NuvaRing lawsuits continue and have been consolidated into a federal MDL court in Missouri (In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation, No. 08-md-1964, JPML, Eastern District Missouri). As of September 5, 2012, according to the U.S. Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, more than 1,000 NuvaRing lawsuits have been filed.
Mirena IUD (levonorgestrel) saw an increase in reader interest after August 2012, as Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. submitted an Application for Centralized Management of Certain Cases involving Mirena. As FoxNews reported (11/11/12), the request seeks to create a multi-district litigation (MDL) for 16 pending Mirena lawsuits in NJ that allege Mirena caused uterine perforation, infection and hemorrhaging injuries.
After the top three women’s health-related drugs, Pradaxa (dabigatran), an alternative to warfarin, joined the list this year making the Top 5. In November 2012, the FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication regarding Pradaxa bleeding events which in turn helped drive reader interest.
Thousands of LawyersandSettlements.com monthly readers have followed the latest legal news and information on these topics, many of which have fallen from the radar of traditional media outlets.
“We believe these issues are of great importance to the public, mostly due to the life-changing impact they can have on an individual,” said Stephen King, CEO. “Some of our most interesting stories of the year related to pharmaceuticals. Many of them have pending lawsuits or have had substantial settlements related to their life-altering side effects and it’s important to get this information out to the public. While many pharmaceutical companies continue to earn significant profits, people are suffering. They may think they have no recourse but in many cases they do. By keeping these topics alive, LawyersandSettlements.com is helping people stay up-to-date on these important topics every day.”
The LawyersandSettlements.com Top 10 Pharmaceutical Topics of 2012, along with the potential side effects readers were seeking information on, are:
1. Yasmin/YAZ (gall bladder disease, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism)
2. NuvaRing & Mirena (blood clots, infection, perforation of the uterus)
3. Pradaxa (uncontrollable bleeding, lack of an available antidote)
4. Granuflo (elevated bicarbonate levels, risk for metabolic alkalosis)
5. SSRIs (birth defects including heart defects, spina bifida, cleft palate, club foot, PPHN)
6. Actos (bladder cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, rhabdomyolysis)
7. Diethylstilbestrol/DES (cancer)
8. Crestor / Statins (diabetes, cardiomyopathy, rhabdomyolysis)
9. Fosamax (bone fractures, esophageal cancer)
10. Propecia (sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, sterility, prostate cancer)
LawyersandSettlements.com readers are looking for the latest and most comprehensive legal news available. Those seeking legal help can request assistance by completing a form which is then distributed to attorneys specializing in these cases. Over two and a half million people visit the site yearly, and hundreds of thousands of request forms have been submitted by qualified readers looking for legal guidance.
MSNBC Video: Maybe Propecia Side Effects Don’t Ever Go Away
July 13th, 2012. By AbiK
Not good news for the men who allege they’ve been affected by Propecia side effects including sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction and even infertility. Check out the msnbc video below—and if you’re considering legal help yourself after taking the hair loss drug, you can fill out a Propecia complaint form here.
Hair Restoration Society Issues Statement on Propecia Sexual Dysfunction
December 16th, 2011. By AbiK
We were waiting for this one. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)—yes, there is such an organization—issued a press release earlier this week to state its position on the claims of Propecia sexual dysfunction that have been swirling around.
The ISHRS aims to quell concerns over reported Propecia side effects—namely those regarding sexual dysfunction, loss of sexual interest, and claims of infertility—by stating that there have been “no evidence-based data substantiating the link between finasteride and persistent sexual side effects after discontinued use of the drug in numerous, double blinded, placebo controlled studies conducted evaluating the use of Propecia 1mg for hair loss.”
Additionally, the ISHRS states that anecdotal reports of adverse events (as in erectile dysfunction) “should not define the safety and effectiveness of this drug”. Such a statement is reminiscent of that line about a disease being “rare” until you’re the one affected by it. True, some random report from a guy on Propecia having sexual difficulties is not perhaps indicative of a large-scale problem or cause for alarm. Unfortunately, though, the anecdotal reports are more than just a few one-off’s, and they are a cause of concern for the men who report them.
Propecia Erectile Dysfunction AERS Reports
According to drugcite.com–a website that aggregates data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), there have been 363 adverse events reported to the FDA for Finasteride (Propecia and Proscar). Of note, the most common reported Finasteride adverse event is erectile dysfunction.
The numbers seem low at first glance, but hair loss and sexual dysfunction don’t tend to be topics that anyone really wants to “come out” about and certainly not call attention to. And that raises the question of underreporting—could it be that due to the nature of the side effects not too many men really want to come forward and first, admit there is a problem to themselves, and then take it a step further and officially report it?
Given the upward trend of AERS reports from 2009 to 2011, one can only surmise that as more information regarding Propecia sexual side effects has hit the mainstream media—for example, the recent story in Men’s Health magazine—perhaps the stigma of talking about it has been reduced a bit (“see honey, it’s not me—it’s that hair loss drug I’ve been on…“).
Propecia, Sexual Dysfunction and the Middle-Aged Man?
Of note, the ISHRS release mentions that sexual dysfunction can be hard (no pun there) to assess—after all, there are numerous factors that can contribute to such problems: “nicotine, alcohol, prescription medications, stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression”. And, according the the release which quotes a 2006 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, incidence of erectile dysfunction in middle-aged or older men in the general population can be as high as 49%.
That make sense—except when you look at the anecdotal reports from Propecia users (some of which are on LawyersandSettlements.com) and see that the victims can be rather young—in their 20’s and 30’s, some even as young as 19. So not quite in that “middle-aged or older” group.
According to AmericanHairLoss.org, “Approximately twenty five percent of men who suffer with male pattern baldness begin the painful process before they reach the age of twenty-one.” The ISHRS itself states on its site that “Hair loss in men is likely to occur primarily between late teen-age years and age 40-50″—if so, it would appear that the statistic of E.D. occurring in potentially 49% of middle-aged or older men is somewhat irrelevant.
Anecdotal Propecia AERS Reports Lead to Task Force
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the ISHRS press release is the announcement that the organization has formed a task force to review the anecdotal reports of sexual dysfunction among certain Propecia users. While it’s certainly the responsible thing to do, it also somehow validates that there is growing concern over the drug’s potential for harmful side effects.
According to the release, the ISHRS has also reached out to “dermatologists, hair loss physicians, urologists, endocrinologists and sexual medicine specialists” to be a part of the task force and share their data and experiences with finasteride in a “fact-based manner”.
Undoubtedly there will be more to come—Propecia lawsuits included.
Prescription Hell: When Curing Your Ill Causes More Ills
August 4th, 2011. By AbiK
True Story: I saw a comment from a reader here at LawyersandSettlements.com who had gone to the doctor to get some help for his acne. While there, the doctor noticed that this guy’s hair was starting to thin. Long story short, the guy walked out of the doctor’s office with a prescription for Propecia. He now claims he suffers sexual side effects (like erectile dysfunction and impotence). Oh, and btw, he still had his acne.
It got me thinking…
I’m not a glass-half-empty type, but it’s easy to see how, with prescription drugs, one can envision a worst-case-scenario downward spiral of things—especially given the potential side effects with some drugs that are on the market.
So then I started thinking, what if…
What if a guy goes to the doctor for acne. What could happen based on which drugs he’s been prescribed and what the side effects of those drugs could be? The graphic above depicts “The Snake Pit” (classic movie if you haven’t seen it) version of taking prescription upon prescription. A modern day Dante’s “Inferno”. Only in this little vignette, no one emerges from hell in their attempt to mitigate (via new prescriptions) the snowball effect of increasingly negative side effects.
Here’s how this plays out.
(Note, yes, it’s hypothetical, assumes various doctors/specialists involved, and yes, assumes worst case and/or rare scenarios…but still, it could happen. And before you get on me for Accutane being off the market, the drug isotretinoin is still alive and kicking…)
A guy goes to the doctor for acne. He’s given Accutane (isotretinoin). A possible side effect of Accutane is Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). To treat the IBD, he’s given Cipro (antibiotic) and Prednisone (corticosteroid). Cipro has been linked to tendon rupture. Reported, though rare, side effects of Prednisone can include high blood pressure and osteoporosis. Assuming his luck is nil, he experiences these side effects and is given Lisinopril (ACE inhibitor) to combat the high blood pressure, and Fosamax to help combat the osteoporosis.
As we know, Lisinopril has been linked to liver damage (or worse, liver failure). And Fosamax has been under fire for femur fractures. Which, outside of pain meds—which have their own set of side effects—requires another form of medical intervention (surgery). So we come to a “STOP” on that path.
But between the Accutane and the Lisinopril, he begins to experience some hair loss as well—a rare side effect of both drugs, and he’s Mr. Unlucky. So next up, Propecia. Propecia side effects include sexual dyfunction. And he finds himself having some “issues” on the love-making front. Well, there’s a drug for that—Viagra! But let’s face it, between hair loss, sexual dysfunction, a broken thigh bone, a ruptured tendon, high blood pressure and some bowel problems, is it any wonder this guy’s now depressed? So, it’s time for some SSRI’s—like Prozac. And Prozac’s been linked to suicidal behavior.
And, with that, I guess it’s another “STOP”.
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