One man began taking the drug fairly soon after it became available. But after several months he began experiencing testicular pain.
Propecia was approved by the FDA for treating male pattern baldness in 1997. One man began taking the drug fairly soon after it became available. But after several months he began experiencing testicular pain. When he asked his doctor about it he was told that Propecia did not produce any sexual side effects. So he continued to take the drug, but now wishes he had trusted his own judgment, and not his doctors, as he claims he has been dealing with Propecia sexual dysfunction for years.
Others have reported testicular pain and sexual dysfunction and gotten similar responses from doctors. But when they are told that Propecia does not cause those side effects, many patients trust that their doctors know what they are talking about. And this does not mean that doctors are lying to their patients. Just as patients must put a certain amount of trust in their doctors in order to take a medication that is prescribed to them, doctors must also put a certain amount of trust in drug representatives. Drug manufacturers must be upfront about their products and their side effects. Merck, the company that manufactures Propecia, has been the subject of several lawsuits, accusing the company of misrepresenting the drug’s side effects. The company had said that the side effects would disappear if the men stopped taking Propecia, yet this has not been the case for some men.
The symptoms that the men have developed are called Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS). Doctors still do not know why men develop sexual dysfunction as the result of taking Propecia, but Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas has announced that there will be a clinical study done to hopefully identify the problem.
Whether Merck is right and discontinuing Propecia will cause the side effects to go away is unknown. Or even if the drug is what is causing the long term or possibly even permanent side effects.
The patient explains that when his testicular pain continued to increase, he stopped taking the drug, but the symptoms did not disappear. He says “Not long after I quit Propecia, I had erectile dysfunction and decreased libido – for the first time in my life. And I was in my late 30s. I always knew these problems stemmed from taking the drug, and it has been a huge handicap and embarrassment for me in my intimate relationships. Of course this caused further emotional and mental distress.”
Merck still maintains that the side effects will go away when the drug is discontinued and many doctors and health care professionals believe them. However, the FDA announced in April 2012 that Propecia and Finasteride need new labels that “erectile dysfunction after stopping use of [Propecia and finasteride] was added as a known event in 2011.”
On its website Merck mentions that a small percentage of men experience sexual side effects, but fails to mention that for some men these side effects may be permanent even after men stopped taking the drug.
If you or a loved one has developed serious symptoms that affect your quality of life and were not adequately warned of these risks prior to taking the drug, contact a personal injury attorney to discuss your legal options.
