Category Archives: Monat

Hair Loss Lawsuits, DevaCurl, Gorilla Glue, Merck, Monat, Propecia, Sanofi, Tresemmé

Hair Loss Lawsuits Galore

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Every now and again, I read about class action lawsuits against major hair loss product manufacturers. It seems like 2021 will be a record year for such legal actions.

Merck, Propecia and Lawsuits

The most famous of these entails various class action lawsuits against Merck (US) (the manufacturer of Propecia). The initial accusations against Merck pertained to Propecia causing persistent long-term sexual side effects in men. Despite the company settling the lawsuit with most litigants in 2018, further class actions continue to stack up to this day.

The latest allegations state that Propecia causes depression and suicide in males. This story was covered by many major news sources in February, 2021. However, these issues were already in the news for several years. I have not tried to find out if suicide rates in men taking Propecia are higher than in those not taking the drug. I also wonder if some of these suicides occur due to the fact that Propecia is not stopping hair loss in some desolate men? Or causing serious sexual side effects in some, in turn leading to depression? I would also guess that depression in balding men and women is higher than in those without any hair loss.

“Annual US prescriptions of finasteride for hair loss increased to over 2.4 million in 2020, more than double the number in 2015”. Source: IQVIA.

At the same time, these drugs do alter hormones. In particular, Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is drastically reduced in men taking Propecia or generic finasteride. Moreover, finasteride affects both estrogen and testosterone levels. Albeit by a small amount in most users. Hopefully topical finasteride may lead to fewer side effects.

Out of respect to families affected by these tragedies, I will delete any comments in this post that seem insulting or demeaning. Voicing some support or skepticism about this issue is fine.

I wonder if such lawsuits against Merck were what prevented GSK (UK) from obtaining US FDA approval to sell Avodart (dutasteride) as a hair loss drug? Almost everyone agrees that dutasteride causes more side effects than finasteride. As of 2021, dutasteride is only approved in Japan and South Korea to treat male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia). In the rest of the developed world, it is approved to treated enlarged prostates in older men.

Gorilla Glue Lady

My favorite story from 2021 is probably the Gorilla Glue lady Tessica Brown. It is also the biggest story in the hair loss world so far this year. Luckily, it had a happy ending. Many sources reported that Ms. Brown would be suing Gorilla Glue, but this is not true as of the time of writing this post. She received a lot of backlash on social media when people thought that she was going to take legal action against Gorilla Glue.

Unilever and Tresemmé

TRESemmé (owned by UK-based Unilever) is a very famous brand of shampoos. I have used it many times in the past, and always liked the product. However, in January 2021, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Tresemmé. Apparently, some Keratin lines of this shampoo contain formaldehyde-releasing preservative DMDM hydantoin. It is alleged that this ingredient caused hair loss, scalp irritation and burning in many women using the shampoo. Unilever faced similar allegations against its Suave range of products in 2012, forcing it to recall the offending items.

Sanofi-Aventis and Selsun Blue

In 2021, Sanofi-Aventis (France) is facing legal action from several parties in relation to its Selsun Blue dandruff shampoo. The plaintiff alleges that the product contains chemicals that cause scalp irritation and hair loss. In 2020, Sanofi-Aventis faced another lawsuit claiming that the company’s Selsun Blue line of natural dandruff shampoo is, in fact, not natural.

While I have reservations about most such lawsuits, I do find it undesirable that most hair loss shampoos contain so many harmful ingredients. Even something as popular and effective as Nizoral shampoo contains ingredients that often dry out the scalp. A recent NY Times article on declining sperm counts blames endocrine disruptors (including ingredients in plastic bottles and shampoos) as contributing factors. Hormone disrupting phthalates should be avoided in hair and beauty products. Parabens and sulfates are also undesirable.

DevaCurl Lawsuit

In 2020, curly hair line DevaCurl was in the news almost every month due to a class-action lawsuit that was heavily promoted on social media. Perhaps the biggest reason was this video from Ayesha Malik:

Monat Lawsuit Resolution

Also in 2020, Monat finally seemed to have resolved continued lawsuits that first commenced in 2015. Consumers have complained that Monat products cause hair loss, itching, sores and skin lesions. Monat is a multilevel-marketing company, renowned for its natural hair and skincare products. The company is now banned from making false or misleading claims about the health benefits, safety or performance of its hair and beauty products.

Alopecia Areata, Carboxytherapy, Cord Blood, Ed Cooley, Medipost, Monat, Oncostatin M

March Madness 2018 in the Hair Loss World

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— I covered Dr. Lu Le in detail in May of last year due to his team’s groundbreaking discovery related to Krox20 and its impact on hair growth and hair pigmentation. In a new video interview Mr. Le says:

“It will not be tomorrow. It is in the realm of possibility. We are working really hard in the lab to make it happen.”

Ed Cooley Hair
Ed Cooley Alopecia Areata

— For those of you in the US, this is the traditional March Madness month of playoffs in college basketball. A great excuse to frequent and support your local pubs. One of the most discussed teams so far this year has been Providence (unfortunately they were eliminated today). As is often the case in sports, Providence coach Ed Cooley is a bigger attention grabber than the team’s players. The most admirable thing abut Mr. Cooley is that despite suffering from alopecia areata (i.e., patchy hair loss) for years, he does not care and never discusses the subject. In the above image from a game earlier in the week, he is wearing a towel because he ripped his pants after a fit of exuberance and decided to cover the tear up rather than waste precious game time going to the changing room. Thankfully, he never covers up his patchy hair loss.

— I am not going to write yet another post on Aclaris Therapeutics as requested by several people. However, it is worth checking out blog reader “Malcolm”‘s useful comments in the last post based on Aclaris’ latest investor conference presentation (which can be listened to via the company’s website and includes attached slides). The company is definitely on schedule to finish Phase 2 trials by mid-2019 as announced a few weeks ago and covered on this blog. Also, Aclaris was granted yet another new patent covering the use of JAK inhibitors to treat hair loss disorders, including androgenetic alopecia (which most of us care about the most). Patent details here.

— On a related note, a new study from Dr. Angela Christiano’s Columbia University lab titled “Hair Growth Is Induced by Blockade of Macrophage-derived Oncostatin M and Downstream Jak-stat5 Signaling in Hair Follicle Stem Cells”. The author’s unusual name (Dr. Wang Cho Ee Etienne) stands out just as much as the paper title.

— In 2016, I wrote a post in relation to umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) and hair regeneration. I had forgotten about the subject till I read a new article (h/t “Paul Pheonix”) about South Korea based Medipost being granted a domestic patent related to “stem cell culture fluids preventing hair loss”. It seems like these stem cells will be derived from umbilical cord blood.

— Apparently Monat sold $200 million worth of hair care products in 2017 through multi-level marketing. However, now the company is faced with mounting class-action lawsuits. Complaints range from an increase in hair loss to major scalp irritation to adverse skin reactions.

— Another interesting article on PolarityTE.

— The Hair & Nails Symposium started in Poland yesterday. Several well known speakers and presenters from the hair loss cure world such as Dr. Antonella Tosti and Dr. Ulrike Blume-Peytavi.

— Will we EVER cure baldness?

— Carboxytherapy may be useful for alopecia areata treatment. Maybe also minor improvements in androgenetic alopecia patients when used as an adjuvant therapy. I am skeptical.

— Fractional non-ablative laser-assisted delivery of topical finasteride and various growth factors leads to improvement in male and female pattern hair loss. I did not try to find the entire study and see if results are superior to using plain old oral finasteride 0.5mg per day.