Bloomberg News ran a feature story today on the booming Chinese market for hair-loss treatments, including Propecia.
The original version of the story stated only that: “Propecia, approved in China since 2001, is ‘one of Merck’s important, innovative drugs’ there, Shanghai-based Wu said in an e-mail. The drug, also known by the chemical name finasteride, was required in April by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to include warning labels linking it to sexual dysfunction that can occur after patients stop using it.”
But after someone pointed out to Bloomberg an error in its reporting – that the FDA mandate came in April 2012, not April of this year – the news service ran a corrected version, complete with the PFS Foundation’s key message, as follows:
“Propecia, approved in China since 2001, is ‘one of Merck’s important, innovative drugs’ there, Shanghai-based Wu said in an e-mail. The drug, also known by the chemical name finasteride, was required in April 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to include warning labels linking it to sexual dysfunction that can occur after patients stop using it.
"The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation was established in July 2012 to support research into the biologic mechanisms of the condition that would lead to effective treatments or cures, according to the non-profit group based in Somerset, New Jersey. Post-finasteride syndrome is characterized by sexual, neurological, hormonal and psychological side effects that persist in men who have taken Propecia, the group said in e-mail.”
Thank you, Bloomberg, for helping warn 1.3 billion Chinese people that Propecia can ruin lives.
Read the full report here: