The Food and Drug Administration recently added and expanded the warning label on the drug called finasteride. The expansion occurred this past Thursday, April 12th. Finasteride is a drug used to treat male pattern baldness and treating an enlarged prostate.
The Associated Press published an article saying that the expanded warning label comes after some patients took the drug experienced sexual side effects even after the patients stopped taking it. In Merck & Co.’s prostate drug Proscar, Propecia, used to treat baldness, and the generics to these two drugs use finasteride as the main ingredient.
Finasteride has been linked to sexual side effects, even before this expanded warning came out. Since some particular men who took finasteride and experienced side affects even after they stopped taking the drug continued to experience these side effects. The FDA needed to warn others who may take these dangerous drugs.
Proscar was approved in 1992 for treating symptoms in men who had an enlarged prostate and also used to reduce the chance of urinary retention or the need for surgery. Propecia was approved for the treatment of male pattern hair loss.
The newest warning says that some men who took the drug experienced libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders after they stopped taking the drug. Proscar’s label now has included decreased libido. Both drugs now include a description of the difficulties experienced by men including cases of male infertility and poor semen quality. With those particular cases, it changed for the better or normalized after the men stopped taking the drug.
With this new warning, patients will be warned of these serious side affects related to finasteride.
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