The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA has now ordered that packets of Propecia be accompanied by health warnings regarding problems with ejaculation, orgasm and libido that are said to occur even after patients stop taking the hair loss treatment.
Propecia already carries a warning on its label regarding a decrease in libido but now the other warnings will also be added to it. Along with sexual side effects, the label warnings will include side effects such as a decrease in semen quality and infertility however these are two side effects that are said to disappear once treatment ceases.
Despite this move, no evidence is available to establish a direct link between Finasteride, the active ingredient in Propecia and Proscar, with these symptoms. The cases investigated have been reported voluntarily and the number of actual reports was very small given the prescribed population, thus making it difficult to draw any reliable conclusions or establish any causal link between the drug and these symptoms.
Drug companies are obliged to advertise such warnings since cases have been reported. However, we assure patients that there is no concrete evidence to prove that Finasteride has these effects on patients and very few of our patients report any side effects whatsoever so Propecia appears to be well tolerated on the whole and we are not aware of any label changes in the UK.