Well, Oscar, if you must ask…
What does reporting to the FDA entail? It entails filling our a form. And in SOME instance, patients include in their medical records.
But that’s not required. That’s voluntary.
However…
When one files a lawsuit – a lawsuit that winds up on the record, in the works here in the US – one MUST provide medical records.
If not, the defendant side – or even the judge – can dismiss the allegations/suit.
You following me? You see that, in many ways, an active finasteride lawsuit is in many ways MORE valid proof of real PFS – because it’s hard to fake a medical history. (And believe me: both sides – the plaintiff’s attorneys and Merck’s own counsel – take great pains to ensure medical records are valid.)
OK, now…
So here, according to Merck’s very own SEC filings (aka 10-Q), are the latest year-over-year stats for finasteride suits here in the US alone:
For the quarterly period ended Nov. 7, 2012:
-265 lawsuits
-415 plaintiffs
For the quarterly period ended Nov. 7, 2013:
-1,130 lawsuits
-1,380 plaintiffs
—2013 year-over-year increase in number of lawsuits: 865 (+294%)
—2013 year-over-year increase in number of plaintiffs: 965 (+215 %)
And very soon, Merck’s even more recent 10-Q will be public. So, conservatively speaking, we’d all agree that there are at least 1,200 plaintiffs in the US alone, right?
Now, add in Canada and the UK and right there you have 2,000 plaintiffs. And if we were to count the entire planet, we’re probably talking about a total of 10,000 to 25,000+ plaintiffs – or at least damaged parties who would sue if they could.
Hope that gives you some assurance that PFS is in fact a textbook epidemic.