Spencer Kobren Discusses Post Finasteride Syndrome 5/5/12

[the_charger]

Listen, at some point you are going to be able to have to connect-the-dots. Why don't you try calling/writing Merck and tell them you developed side effects that have not subsided within 1 year or quitting the drug. You (should) be shocked at the callous indifference with which they respond with some response written by a lawyer at their firm saying Merck was approved by the FDA and they do not believe there is a causal relationship at hand.

what kind of response are you expecting? merck makes almost a hundred different products, and they probably get complaints constantly.. they probably have a standard response to each complaint for each product. do you expect they reply each time with an individual thoughtful and supportive response? thats not how companies work... Im sort of surprised you dont know that. of course they are going to have a lawyer write or look over anything they send out to the public. If they dont do that and say something that could be confused with admitting that they are guilty, it could easily be used against them in court! companies go to great lenghts to protect themselves. that doesnt mean they are guilty or covering anything up, it means they are doing what companys do!

Despite the fact they have been monitoring internet websites for years

what proof do you have of this?

despite the fact they have received hundreds of post-marketing reports, despite the fact these side effects showed up in their very own PLESS trials and they didn't want to know anything more about it since it would only cost them lost sales and fines. They will not express an ounce of sympathy or a slight eagerness to look into any potential risk of their patented drug. There are hundreds of men who have reported this was their experience in dealing with the company.

you are still convinced that PLESS study showed these side effects??? Well I wont argue it anymore, but ill just leave it at this, taken directly from that study

"Sexual AEs resolved in approximately one half of patients after discontinuing treatment with either finasteride or placebo, consistent with the natural history of sexual dysfunction in this patient population"

i said it before, but your interpretation of the study is the exact opposite of the scientists and professionals that conducted it. They said the results are not at all significant and consistent with what they would find in the patient population, but you say otherwise. personally, I would prefer to side with the professionals that conducted the study over an anonymous guy who posts on a forum.

We do not know how unlikely they are - but it seems they run from somewhere around 1 in a 100 to 1 in a 1,000. These are rare for an individual - but the pharmaceutical manufacturer should and would know about outcomes like this but depending on the culture of the firm - may choose to turn a blind eye as they have in this case.

how could you possibly think its even more common than 1 in 1,000? What do you base that on? the fda found only 59 reported cases where side effects didnt go away in 3 months... lets even multiply that by 10! And lets say a million people in the US took propecia since it was released, even though its probably way more than that.. even then, its still 1 in 1,700 and thats being generous.

Merck may end up paying massively in financial and reputational costs. But then again - you have to realize that for Vioxx they literally spend about $1-2 BILLION dollars in legal fees to fight the true accusations that Vioxx called family members. Being one of the largest corporations in the world - they have such immense power they are able to completely squash the weak and downtrodden victims of their products.

i dont know why you keep bringing vioxx up, because its a completely different drug. vioxx was very clearly found to cause severe problems in less than 5 years, and was pulled off the market. finasteride has been on the market for 20 years, and has been studied immensely both by merck funded studies and independent ones, and not even a single documented case of persisting side effects has ever been found...