URGENT: Help influence the FDA's Safety Review of Propecia

[Size=4]URGENT: Help influence the FDA’s Safety Review of Propecia. Email your story to the following two FDA contacts as soon as possible.[/size]

As many of you may be aware, the FDA is currently conducting a safety review of Propecia to determine what actions to take regarding the drug (ie, possible labelling changes, marketing changes, potential withdrawal from market etc). This safety review has likely been prompted due to increasing medical, media and legal awareness about persistent Finasteride side effects.

Some of you have already written emails or phoned Sandy Walsh at the FDA, and your actions are starting to have an effect. Today, one of our members received the following email response from Sandy Walsh, Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), FDA Office of Public Affairs:

I’m not the appropriate contact person. So that your message is correctly logged in and responded to, your inquiry should go to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Division of Drug Information, they are the group of professionals that handle consumer inquiries. They are copied here, druginfo@fda.hhs.gov‪.

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[Size=4]Based on Sandy’s response, she is is NOT the appropriate contact person at the FDA. [/size]

[Size=4]Here are the two people at FDA who DO have DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY for Propecia’s safety review:[/size]

[Size=4][b] Dr. Tatiana Oussova
Tatiana.oussova@fda.hhs.gov

Dr. Kavita Dada
(301) 796-3105
[Kavita.Dada@fda.hhs.gov](mailto:Kavita.Dada@fda.hhs.gov)

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Dr. Tatiana Oussova is the person at FDA who is responsible for conducting FDA’s current safety review for Propecia.

In accordance with FDA policy, she will not respond to your emails, but she will read them.

Tatiana Oussova, M.D., M.P.H.
Deputy Safety Director
Division of Dermatology and Dental Products
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Food and Drug Administration
[Tatiana.oussova@fda.hhs.gov](mailto:Tatiana.oussova@fda.hhs.gov)

Dr. Kavita Dada is the person at FDA who responsible for interacting with the public regarding FDA’s current safety review for Propecia.

While Sandy Walsh has asked that all consumer inquiries be referred to Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Division of Drug Information (without specifying a contact person, only an email address), Dr. Dada is the correct contact person at the FDA’s Division of Drug Information for consumer inquiries about Propecia. 

You can either email or call Dr. Dada on the phone. It is Dr. Dada’s job to return your phone calls.

Dr. Kavita Dada, Pharm. D.
Senior Health Promotions Officer
Division of Drug Information
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Food and Drug Administration
(301) 796-3105
[Kavita.Dada@fda.hhs.gov](mailto:Kavita.Dada@fda.hhs.gov)

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For all emails that you write to the FDA, please copy BOTH Drs. Oussova and Dada. If you have already written an email to Sandy Walsh, please forward the same email to Drs. Oussova and Dada.

[Size=4]* NOTE: You should try to put a personal face on any email that you write. Your emails will have the greatest impact if you are able to share your most intimate thoughts and emotions in great detail about how taking Propecia for hair loss and it’s persistent side effects have altered your life, your health and your hopes and dreams. I urge you to contact both these individuals to share your story immediately.
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Together, we can create real change which will hopefully convince the FDA to take regulatory action on Propecia/Finasteride. All it requires is a few minutes of your time contact these 2 key people responsible for Propecia’s safety review at the FDA. Make your voice heard and help get this problem the regulatory attention it so desperately needs; please submit your story to Drs. Oussova and Dada as soon as possible.

Emails sent.

email sent

I have already sent out emails to the above two contacts plus a lot of the public affairs representatives. I’m feeling pretty good that the FDA will take measures to recognize finasteride’s dangers but I expect it will them several months to reach a conclusion.

If we do end up getting recognition from the FDA, it will have a lot of longer terms benefits for us - the main one being that doctors will accept our conditions as causally related to the drug and it will almost definitely drum up interests in new studies and experimental treatments.

I sent an e-mail, too. Here’s hoping our efforts yield some results.

Considering Propecia is purely for cosmetic purposes, the only reason why I see that FDA hasn’t banned it already is because of Merck’s influence on the FDA. Why does it need to take so long to “review”. Why don’t they temporarily ban the drug, and then approve it again if they really do deem it safe (which they can’t).

What do they care? It’s not their lives destroyed. At the end of the day, the FDA employees still get their paychecks.

Because like you said it will cost merck money, especially if the FDA sees that, and decides the drug is dangerous it will lead weight to the numerous lawsuits merck is now facing. Also government agencies and employees are slow as hell, I can personally attest to that.