Hair loss drug linked to risk of suicidal thoughts, EU regulator says
A medication to treat men's hair loss comes with a rare risk of suicidal thoughts, the European Union's drugs regulator has determined.
The safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it reviewed 313 reports of suicidal ideation among people taking the drug finasteride, which can stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss for men aged 18 to 41.
Finasteride is sold in 1 mg tablets under brand names such as Propecia. Meanwhile, 5 mg tablets are used to treat prostate enlargement that can cause problems urinating.
Most of the reports of suicidal thoughts came from people taking the 1 mg tablets, but 'the frequency of the side effect is unknown,' the EMA concluded.
Finasteride – which already comes with warnings about mood changes, such as depression and suicidal ideation – will remain on the shelves because the safety committee concluded that its benefits outweigh its risks.
But the 1 mg tablets will now come with a card that reminds people of the risks and advises them on how to handle side effects, which can also include decreased sex drive or erectile dysfunction, the EMA said.
The agency said people who experience mood changes while taking finasteride 1 mg should stop taking it and seek medical advice.
The warnings will also be added to the medicine dutasteride, which is another treatment for prostate enlargement.
The EMA safety committee did not have evidence linking the drug to suicidal thoughts, but because dutasteride works the same way as finasteride, the information will be added as a precaution.
The agency noted that there were only a few hundred reports of suicidal ideation among about 270 million patients taking finasteride and 82 million taking dutasteride.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates pledged on Thursday to give his entire fortune away over the next 20 years to support global health initiatives.
Gates, who co-founded tech giant Microsoft in the 1970s, said he will donate 'virtually all' his wealth through the Gates Foundation, a charity that has become a giant in global health and anti-poverty programmes since he founded it with ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000.
Gates had originally planned for his fortune to continue funding the organisation for decades after his death. But the tech tycoon said he's changed his mind.
'There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,' Gates said in a statement.
'That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned'.
The tech tycoon said he expects the foundation to spend more than $200 billion (€175.8 billion) through 2045. The Gates Foundation said this would double its current spending levels.
While the organisation's overall priorities aren't changing, it will home in on three key goals: curbing preventable deaths among mothers and babies, addressing lethal infectious diseases, and lifting 'millions of people out of poverty,' the foundation said.
The announcement comes amid widespread cuts to global health efforts.
Led by President Donald Trump, the United States has slashed both overseas health funding and programmes, which experts have warned could have devastating consequences.
Without the US's roughly $12 billion (€10.6 billion) in spending on global health in 2024, for example, roughly 25 million people could die over the next 15 years from HIV, tuberculosis (TB), maternal health complications, and in early childhood, one analysis found.
European countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and France, have also cut their budgets for global health and foreign aid since last year.
Earlier this week, the United Nations' AIDS agency said it would cut its workforce by more than half and move remaining staffers to cheaper posts in response to drastic budget cuts from donors.
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