[공지] 미국에서 프로페시아 소송에 관한 메일이 왔네요..

February 4, 2012
Dear Post-Finasteride Syndrome Patient,

Considerable time has passed since my last communication to you and the litigation is progressing.  My best guess is that about 500 Propecia lawsuits against Merck will have been filed within the next few months.

I now have contact information for 800 men with the PFS syndrome.  I estimate that I have spoken on the phone with between 400 and 500 men with PFS syndrome.  I apologize to those of you with whom I have made an initial contact, but have been unable to follow-up with a more in depth phone conversation.  For those of you in this category who would still like to speak with me, I encourage you to call me at (561) 994-5450 so that we can discuss your case in detail.

Last October, Habush Habush & Rottier filed 40 cases in state court in Atlantic County, New Jersey.  We currently have close to 100 plaintiffs who have signed retainer contracts with the Habush law firm and for whom we will be filing cases.  Even though we filed our cases in Atlantic County, New Jersey almost 4 months ago, we are still waiting to hear the ruling on a motion to consolidate all New Jersey state court cases in Atlantic County and for a judge to be assigned. 

The Atlantic county state court venue has ruled on a number of cases in the Merck Vioxx litigation over the last decade.  One of the Merck Vioxx cases is the subject of an excellent book, All the Justice Money Can Buy, by Snigda Prakash (http://verdict.justia.com/2011/11/15/a-review-of-all-the-justice-money-can-buy).  I recommend it highly for anyone who is pursuing Propecia litigation against Merck.  It will help you to understand the highly complex mass tort litigation process and provide insight into how the Propecia litigation might unfold over time.

About 60 Propecia cases have also been filed to date in a variety of federal court jurisdictions.  A motion has been filed to consolidate all the federal cases through an MDL (multi-district litigation) action into a single federal court jurisdiction.  The motion mentions federal court districts in the states of New Jersey, New York and Washington as possible federal court venues.  There will be a hearing on March 29 in San Diego to decide which federal court jurisdiction will hear the Propecia mass tort litigation cases. 

The federal MDL action does not affect our filings in state court in Atlantic County, New Jersey.

The Habush law firm is making excellent progress in the development of its legal case.  We are playing a leading role in the development of the scientific and legal basis for proving causation and in retaining a number of highly qualified expert witnesses to help us prove causation.  We have been in contact with a number of medical researchers who would like to pursue research studies to better define the biological mechanisms of the post-finasteride syndrome.  This momentum will likely continue to accelerate over time.

The FDA has not yet made a decision on Merck’s CBE (“changes being effected”) Propecia product label change last April 2011 in which Merck added the warning “erectile dysfunction that continued after discontinuation of treatment” to the Postmarketing Experience section of the Propecia product label. 

Normally, the FDA would make a decision on a CBE label change within 6 months.  As it has been about 10 months and the FDA has not yet made a decision, it is clear that the FDA is making a careful and thorough review of the Propecia product label.  Hopefully, the FDA will either require a black box warning on the Propecia product label or withdraw marketing approval of Propecia, but it is impossible to predict what actions the FDA may or may not take. 

For those of you who have not yet submitted your adverse event report directly to the FDA, I would strongly encourage you to submit a detailed adverse event form to the FDA (https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm).

Respectfully yours,
Lee Meisel, M.D., J.D., M.P.H.