Male Baldness Pill Suit Likely to Be Followed by More

Fort Worth, TXA class-action suit claiming Merck failed to warn consumers that Propecia, a drug for the treatment of male pattern baldness could cause men to grow breasts or become impotent, was recently filed in the state of New Jersey. And Texas personal injury attorney Shezad Malik predicts that this is just the beginning.

"Who would trade a full head of hair for sexual dysfunction," says Dr. Malik, who is both a licensed medical doctor and personal injury and medical malpractice attorney located in Fort Worth. "And I think more litigation will come."

Propecia and a similar medicine called Proscar both contain finasteride. Originally developed as a treatment for enlarged prostate, both Propecia and Proscar were licensed by the FDA to treat male pattern baldness in the 1990s, when it was discovered that it caused patients to grow hair.

Merck's Web site calls Propecia the "Hair Loss Drug for Men," and claims that less than two percent of men in its clinic studies developed complications. It also claims that the side effects disappeared when the men stopped taking the drug.

However, Dr. Malik points out that in Europe, Propecia prescriptions carried a warning that side effects "may persist" even after patients discontinue its use. And the US Journal of Sexual Medicine reported recently that Propecia was linked to sexual problems in men, including the growth of male breast tissue, depression, reduced semen, loss of libido and erectile dysfunction.

"Merck maintained that these side effects were reversible, but now studies are showing it is permanent," says Malik. "We don't really know how many men have had side effects, but it is likely significant," says Dr. Malik.

Dr. Malik's powerful combination of a medical degree and a law degree make him a kind of super litigator when it comes to assessing a client's case. "I opened my personal injury practice in 2006 and I handle a lot of mass torts and product liability cases connected to pharmaceuticals," says Dr. Malik. "It's a perfect fit with my medical background. I can review charts, I know what's happening medically and I can accurately convert that into legal cases when they have merit."

As many as 100 people a month call his office for legal counsel related to medical malpractice, drug liability cases and more. "I only take the best, most meritorious cases," says Dr. Malik.


The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm has offices in both Southlake and Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Malik is a board-certified internist and cardiologist, and an attorney. Lawyers at the firm handle a variety of personal injury, litigation and mass tort cases, and have extensive experience in the areas of medical malpractice, wrongful death, tractor trailer and commercial vehicle accidents, product liability, brain, burn, electrical and spinal cord injuries, and other types of catastrophic injuries.