Mark DiCello named to Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in Propecia MDL
Mark DiCello of the DiCello Law Firm was selected June 22 by a federal judge to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the multidistrict litigation known as In re Propecia (Finasteride) Product Liability Litigation (MDL 2331)
Multiple cases involving Propecia, a hair loss prevention drug alleged to cause serious sexual dysfunctional side effects, were consolidated in April under U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in the Eastern District of New York.
Mark DiCello, as a member of the newly formed steering committee, will undertake the management of the national Propecia litigation.
Propecia, and its parent drug Proscar, both made by Merck, are the trademarked versions of finasteride, a synthetic antiandrogen that limits the production of enzymes believed to be partially responsible for male pattern baldness and an enlarged prostate.
Both drugs allegedly cause sexual side effects such as decreased arousal, erectile dysfunction, severe depression and other serious side effects. Many men who took Propecia were led to believe those side effects would stop once they stopped taking the drug, according to a George Washington University study. However, this same study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that those sexual side effects could be permanent in at least 15 percent of men who have taken Propecia or Proscar even after discontinuing use of the drug.
As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning in April 2012 that the product label of Propecial and Proscar has been revised to include new, safety warning information regarding the decreased libido side effects.
Mark DiCello has also worked extensively in litigations involving other defective medical devices and dangerous drugs, including Vioxx, Mentor Obtape, Depuy Hip ASR recalls, Kugel Mesh, Topomax, and others.
The Propecia MDL is housed in the Eastern Disitrict of New York (Brooklyn, NY) - MDL case number is 1:12-md-2331.
Read the court order by clicking here.
Click here to read more about how the DiCello Law Firm is dealing with Propecia and Proscar cases.
