{"id":47420,"date":"2025-04-24T19:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T19:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/47420\/"},"modified":"2025-04-24T19:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T19:42:09","slug":"fda-warns-unapproved-hair-loss-product-finasteride-tied-to-side-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/47420\/","title":{"rendered":"FDA warns unapproved hair-loss product finasteride tied to side effects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The FDA is warning about a topical spray version of finasteride, a drug often sold online by telehealth companies. Adobe stock\/HealthDay<\/p>\n<p>A quick spray of medication might seem like an easy way to get thicker hair, but some people say one sold online has left them battling sexual side effects, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthday.com\/a-to-z-health\/mental-health\/how-to-deal-with-depression-2659464053.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">depression<\/a> and even thoughts of suicide.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/topic\/Food_and_Drug_Administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Food and Drug Administration\" class=\"tpstyle\" rel=\"noopener\">Food and Drug Administration<\/a> is warning the public about the risks.\n<\/p>\n<p>The FDA warning is about a topical spray version of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drugs.com\/finasteride.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">finasteride<\/a>, a drug often sold online by telehealth companies like Hims, Keeps and Ro, The Wall Street Journal reported.<\/p>\n<p>While the pill form of finasteride, known by the brand name <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drugs.com\/propecia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Propecia<\/a>, is FDA-approved to treat hair loss, the spray version is not.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;FDA has become aware of reports of adverse events involving compounded topical finasteride products potentially putting consumers at risk,&#8221; the April 22 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/drugs\/human-drug-compounding\/fda-alerts-health-care-providers-compounders-and-consumers-potential-risks-associated-compounded\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Currently, there is no FDA-approved topical formulation of finasteride,&#8221; it continued. &#8220;Compounded topical finasteride products do not have FDA-approved labeling. There are potential serious risks associated with the use of compounded topical finasteride products.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The FDA warning follows a recent Wall Street Journal report describing men who said they experienced side effects after using finasteride prescriptions purchased from the telehealth companies Hims and Keeps.\n<\/p>\n<p>Reported side effects include &#8220;erectile dysfunction, anxiety, suicidal ideation, brain fog, depression, fatigue, insomnia, decreased libido and testicular pain,&#8221; the FDA said.<\/p>\n<p>The FDA also warned that the spray could pose a risk to others, especially women. Finasteride can cause birth defects in male babies, so women are advised not to come in contact with the drug, the warning added.<\/p>\n<p>Some users told the FDA that their doctors had said the spray version would not cause side effects.<\/p>\n<p>Online health companies are allowed to sell these sprays through compounding pharmacies, which create drugs when patients need an alternative to FDA-approved medications.<\/p>\n<p>While it&#8217;s all legal, these companies are not held to the same advertising standards as traditional drugmakers, The Wall Street Journal reports.<\/p>\n<p>In previous statements, both Hims and Keeps said they inform customers about potential risks on their websites and packaging.<\/p>\n<p><b>More information<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Read the U.S. Food and Drug Administration&#8217;s full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/drugs\/human-drug-compounding\/fda-alerts-health-care-providers-compounders-and-consumers-potential-risks-associated-compounded\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health alert<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/healthday.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FDA is warning about a topical spray version of finasteride, a drug often sold online by telehealth&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[25096,105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-47420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-food-and-drug-administration","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-medication","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}