Re: bold move by propecia victim

[Guest guest]

http://www.examiner.com/article/parents-of-propecia-sucide-victim-join-kevin-mal\

ley-s-merck-hunger-strike

>

> Thanks to 10 for sharing this with me...

>

> *** BREAKING NEWS - MAY 16, 2012 ***

> PROPECIA VICTIM LAUNCHES HUNGER STRIKE AT MERCK USA HEADQUARTERS

>

> Protester Suffering Erectile Dysfunction, Career Loss, Breakup with Fiancee,

Requests Other Propecia Victims to Join Him In Protest.

> WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., May 16, 2012

>

>

> A 30-year-old Las Vegas man whose life was devastated by Propecia has launched

a hunger

> strike at Merck & Co.'s corporate headquarters, in protest of the

pharmaceutical giant's failure

> to acknowledge the hair-loss drug's role in causing a battery of persistent

side effects, including sexual dysfunction.

>

> Malley, a former public-health researcher from Las Vegas, who flew to

New Jersey from

> his hometown on May 10, ceased eating on May 13 at 3 p.m., and plans to

continue going

> without food indefinitely while camped across from One Merck Drive.

>

> " I want Merck to see how their drug is destroying lives—and know that I'm just

one of thousands

> of victims suffering across the globe, " said Malley, who was prescribed

Propecia last year by

> his doctor, and took the controversial medication for five months until

suffering complete erectile

> dysfunction and loss of libido last winter.

>

> " Even now, eight months after quitting Propecia, my sexual dysfunction has not

resolved itself, "

> added Malley. " I also suffered severe memory loss and disorientation, which

made it nearly

> impossible to concentrate on my work. "

>

> As a result of his physical and psychological ailments, Malley resigned from

his research

> position late last year. He has since taken a job as a waiter at a Las Vegas

restaurant to make

> ends meet.

>

> Meanwhile, he and his fiancee broke off their engagement when she learned that

his sexual

> side effects appear to be permanent. And while trying to come to grips with

his condition, Malley

> came across Propeciahelp.com, a support group for men suffering from

persistent finasteride

> side effects. There, he encountered many other men suffering similar fates

long after quitting

> the drug.

>

> Malley has reported his case to the Food and Drug Administration via its

MedWatch program.

> And in January he called Merck's Adverse Reporting hotline (), but

the company,

> which enjoys annual Propecia sales of more than $440 million, told him, " We

don't have any

> answers for you right now, " he said.

>

> Known clinically as " Post-Finasteride Syndrome " (and so called for Propecia's

generic name,

> finasteride), the condition is marked by sexual, neurological, hormonal and

physical side

> effects—including impotence, Peyronie's disease, testosterone deficiency and

depression—that

> do not resolve themselves after quitting Propecia, and may be irreversible.

>

> On April 11, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Merck to revise the

labeling on Propecia

> to reflect mounting evidence that the medication can cause continued sexual

dysfunction long

> after patients have stopped taking it. Of the 421 Propecia-related sexual

dysfunction cases

> the FDA reviewed in its probe, 14 percent lasted longer than three months

after patients

> discontinued the drug.

> On April 20, according to a report in The Examiner, the FDA began widening its

probe into

> Propecia, stating that the agency " will continue to vigilantly evaluate and

analyze all reports that

> are available on finasteride and take regulatory actions as warranted. "

>

> The FDA has also been actively encouraging victims to submit reports about

" all adverse

> reactions potentially caused by finasteride [including] cases of patients who

developed

> Peyronie's [disease], anxiety, panic attacks, cognitive dysfunction, chronic

insomnia, muscle

> wasting and other persistent side effects. "

> # # #

> MEDIA & GENERAL CONTACT:

>

> Malley

>

>