Hair loss meds cause sex drive to recede: lawsuit

Propecia and Proscar are prescribed as a cosmetic treatment for male pattern hair loss also known as androgenic alopecia

Jan 2011

A Vancouver man has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Canadian men who claim to have experienced prolonged sexual dysfunction after taking medications to treat hair loss.

Michael Miller filed the suit in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday against pharmaceutical company Merck Frosst Canada and the affiliated companies that market Propecia and Proscar.

Both medications are brand names for the drug Finasteride, which is prescribed to prevent male pattern baldness and also for enlarged prostates. (to decrease the swelling? What does it do?)

Miller, who is in his early twenties, says he began taking Proscar when he became worried about his thinning hair. He claims he soon developed a much more serious problem.

"I lost interest in sex and I felt anxious in social situations for no particular reason." Miller said in a press release.

According to Miller, he stopped using the drug because of the drastic changes in his behavior, but the problems persisted.

"My sexual functioning has not recovered, I have seen specialists and have tried treatments but nothing has worked," he said.

Miller's lawyer David Klein says more than 80 Canadian men have said they are interested in participating in the lawsuit, and more are expected to come forward.

Klein says the product labels have been changed in several European countries with a warning it may cause erectile dysfunction even after men stop using the drug.

"This change has not been made in Canada." Klein said.

Source