> Concerns about depression from finasteride were raised in several studies as early as 2002.
It seems clear to me that anything which has depression as a side effect has an increased risk of suicide as well and the only remaining truth to find is the degree.
The executives and scientists should both be prosecuted.
Finasteride every year changes millions of lives globally, I take finasteride, and it’s the sole reason i have my hair.
Idk about you, but i know 10s of different friends who also went through hairloss and were struggling to stop it, who went through severe depression, loss of confidence, suicidal tendencies in extreme cases.
Just because you saw a study that X drug causes side effects/harms in 1-0.1% of patients, doesnt mean the med should be taken off sale especially for a drug as important as finasteride.
It’s easy for someone to say it’s just a cosmetic drug until they go through the full extent of social, mental, and even physical damage, hairloss at a young age causes.
I and almost everyone who takes finasteride take it knowing the risk of a whole range of side effects , often far more severe then just increasing risk of depression. like risk of reduction in fertility, libido in some patients often struggling with obesity.
Obesity creates a whole range of problems too, should we start prosecuting creators of tasty food too ? , fin 1mg is one of the most impactful drugs sold globally both under brand names and generic cheap drugs (i take a generic one) that is life changing for almost a quarter or more of men depending on the country who face male pattern baldness and its related issues.
More studies certainly should be done in link of depression and suicide in some patient cases, but bringing out the pitchfork like luddites and asking to prosecute executives and scientists for a non-opiod, non-addictive, drug that’s been used safely for decades across generations, and saved families thousands of dollars (including mine) in snake oil salesman products that claim to treat hairloss but dont. They should get awards, not pitchforks.
BS, at 1mg amt, the only people who even get a single side-effect are typically morbidly obese folks who have a whole range of fertility issues anyways.
I take dutasteride (even stronger form of finasteride) and have been personally fortunate to not have any side effects in ~8 years.
My whole family on both sides is bald bald. Without it I would have been bald bald in my early 20s.
I knew there were risks of hormone disruption/mood swings/etc but I still prefer it over being bald. I took a calculated risk and I'm thankful that the drug exists. Please don't prosecute the people that gave me the only real, working treatment for my baldness.
> I take dutasteride (even stronger form of finasteride) and have been personally fortunate to not have any side effects in ~8 years.
Dutasteride is not a stronger version of finasteride. It's a more effective DHT blocker, but it works differently.
The side effects are also different and not easy to predict. Some people have terrible side effects from finasteride and none from dutasteride. Some people have the opposite. And some people can tolerate either one. We don't have a way at the moment to reliably predict which one will work better or be better tolerated for a given individual.
Anyway, I'm glad it has worked for you, and I also would not want to prosecute people who've created a medication that's one of the most effective and well-tolerated around.
> The executives and scientists should both be prosecuted.
For what? Many drugs have depression as a possible side effect, but that doesn’t mean they should be pulled from the market and executives prosecuted for simply the possibility of depression.
Negative reactions to drugs are always a possibility. Weighing the risks and tradeoffs and monitoring patients is important. This is why drugs like this are not OTC.
Thank you. If we prosecuted scientists for a drug as well tolerated as finasteride we would cease to develop new medication and all of humanity would be worse for it.
If there was some indication that the pharmaceutical company knew of and concealed evidence that finasteride caused depression/suicidality, then there could be grounds for criminal prosecution. But a non-consensus view in hindsight that a drug might increase depression looks more like a losing civil liability claim.
It seems clear to me that anything which has depression as a side effect has an increased risk of suicide as well and the only remaining truth to find is the degree.
The executives and scientists should both be prosecuted.