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| | Products Liability Suit Filed Against Merck Over Failure To Properly Warn Of Propecia Side Effects
By Lonce LaMon - February 12, 2013
The FDA approved Propecia as a treatment for baldness in 1997. Now Plaintiff Steven Oberc, who resides in Munster, Illinois, has filed a products liability complaint against drug makers Merck & Co and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
Oberc in his lawsuit claims that defendant Merck knew or should have known that Propecia contributes to an increased risk of side effects such as erectile dysfunction, reduced or diminished libido, reduced sexual sensation and infertility, cognitive impairment and depression. Attorneys of the Philadelphia-based Locks Law Firm, Michael B. Leh and Pamela A. Lee filed the lawsuit on February 5th.
The complainant states that the Mercks in their product labeling for Propecia represented that a very small number of users may experience side effects such as sexual dysfunction and depression. The defendants then changed the warning label on Propecia in other countries to reflect the risks of such side effects since the dangers became more widely known. But the lawsuit claims Merck has yet to properly update the label in the United States as required by the Food and Drug Administration.
The suit claims that last year the FDA announced that the label was in the process of being changed but as of the date of the filing of the lawsuit the revised wording had not yet been made public.
"Each defendant was under a continuing duty to disclose the true character, quality, and nature of its drug that Plaintiff Steven Oberc ingested, but instead concealed them," the Complaint reads.
The suit claims Propecia was "unreasonably dangerous" when it entered the marketplace and was used by Oberc. At no time did the plaintiff have reason to believe that the medication was in a condition that was not suitable for its proper and intended use among patients. The plaintiff could not have discovered through the use of reasonable care the defective nature of Propecia and in no way could the plaintiff have known that the defendants had designed, developed, and manufactured Propecia in such a way as to increase the risk of harm or injury to the recipients of Propecia.
Oberc seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to attorney's fees, pre-and-post judgment interest and other court relief. The Complaint contains counts of strick liability, negligence, breach of implied and express warranties, fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violations of unfair and deceptive trade practices acts.
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