"Merck and FDA Concealed 'Extreme Suicide Side Effects' of Hair Loss Drug Propecia"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] It has been revealed that the U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck (MSD) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew for over a decade that the hair loss treatment Propecia could cause suicidal tendencies but concealed this side effect. Propecia is the first oral hair loss medication.

On the 3rd (local time), major foreign media outlets reported this after obtaining related lawsuit documents filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

According to the documents, Merck, the manufacturer of Propecia, received more than 200 reports of severe depression after taking Propecia since at least 2009. Merck did not take follow-up measures, citing the low number and lack of specificity of reports related to severe depression and suicidal tendencies.

The FDA received reports from 2011 that over 700 people who took Propecia or its generic drugs considered suicide, and among them, 100 people committed suicide, but it took no significant action.

Propecia was approved by the FDA in February 1997. According to reports, the FDA had received 34 related reports over 14 years before 2011, with 10 of those individuals committing suicide.

However, the FDA accepted Merck's claim that "the rate of suicide was lower than the natural occurrence rate" and, unlike health authorities in Europe and Canada, did not mandate related warning labels.

Merck responded to the report by stating that "there is no scientific evidence of a correlation between Propecia and suicidal tendencies."

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