Hair Loss Cure 2020

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:

Watch this video on YouTube

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.

I have written a new post about Monasterium CEO Dr. Ralf Paus and his exrensive hair loss related research.

Ralf Paus: Founder & CEO

Dr. Ralf Paus is the founder and CEO of Monasterium Laboratory (see next section that was written in 2017). He is a prolific hair loss research scientist and his below linked interview is worth a listen. Key quote:

“Hair follicles are continuously stoned.” — Dr. Ralf Paus

Please make sure to listen to this excellent Podcast from October 2020 in which Dr. Ralf Paus is interviewed by Dr. Luke Johnson (University of Utah) and Dr. Michelle Tarbox (Texas Tech University). The latter two host the Dermashpere dermatology related Podcast.

Dr. Paus makes the below quote in relation to Cyclosporine, Wnt signaling, Wnt inhibitors and the future of a hair loss cure or treatment.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel.” — Dr. Ralf Paus

Listen closely around 40 mins into the Podcast. The only issue I have is that most of Monasterium Laboratory’s work seems to be in relation to finding cosmetic agents for hair growth promotion. I remain skeptical that any cosmetic product can regrow long-gone hair in fully bald scalps, but hope I am wrong.

June 28, 2017

According to Monasterium Laboratory’s news page, they moved into a brand new research facility in 2018. It is located in this modern nanobiotech research hub.

Monasterium Laboratory in Germany

Recently, I stumbled upon the website of a new company that Dr. Ralf Paus has started in Germany called Monasterium Laboratory Skin & Hair Research Solutions. Although the company started in 2015, it seems like their website only came on-stream in 2016. Update: They now have a new YouTube channel.

On the website, they have an image of the earlier mentioned study on the olfactory receptor (OR2AT4). Apparently the company and its partner even released a product in Italy in 2017 called (previously Bioscalin) Tricovel Signal Revolution and it supposedly stimulates the OR2AT4 receptor. This product targets the sandalwood scent (via the synthetic sandalwood‐like odorant sandalore), which was in the news a lot in 2018.

Another interesting study that the Monasterium team has published recently concludes that the antidepressant Fluoxetine (Prozac) promotes human hair follicle pigmentation and could prevent grey hair formation. This is interesting and surprising, because there have also been some reports that SSRIs such as Prozac can cause hair loss in some patients.

Caveat and Research Activities

During the course of my research for this post, I read this wikipedia entry on Dr. Paus’ wife (with parts of it also involving Dr. Paus). There seems to be some controversy regarding their past work.

Nevertheless, this does not seem to have prevented Monasterium Laboratory from having a pretty solid list of advisers and collaboration partners.

Among Monasterium’s clients include the below ones that I have covered a number of times on this blog.

The US, Japan and Germany seem to be leading global hair loss research. Germany has been lagging the other two of late, so I am glad about this new addition in that country.

Update: Monasterium Laboraratory has a new patent approved and updated on January 20, 2021. It pertains to a proprietary active agent that “activates, enhances, inactivates, blocks or dampens the cellular response of the taste receptor TAS2R4”. Apparently, this impacts hair growth regulation.

Hair Loss Lawsuits Galore