Propecia has been the subject of an article in Men’s Health, echoing claims made in Propecia lawsuits that the hair loss medication may cause serious sexual side effects.

The November 2011 Men’s Health article profiled one man, identified only as Charles K. Not long after college, Charles K. moved to Chicago, and he began balding. Fearing decreased luck in love, Charles K. resorted to Propecia. According to his interview with Men’s Health, he mostly tolerated Propecia well, but occasionally experienced what he wrote off as isolated incidents of decreased sex drive.

After six years on Propecia, he found himself in a stable relationship, and his fear of balding had thinned. But several weeks after he stopped taking Propecia, Charles K. began to experience serious side effects, which he attributed to withdrawal from the Propecia.

The Men’s Health article goes on to cite several research studies suggesting that Propecia could cause serious erectile dysfunction and other sexual side effects. One study was published in 2003 in the a peer-reviewed journal called Urology. In this study, 15% of men taking Propecia for prostate problems reported new sexual side effects, more than twice as many than the control group. According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Hunter Wessells M.D., “in some men, finasteride [the active ingredient in Propecia], caused erectile dysfunction; in others it decreased ejaculate volume, and in others it reduced libido.”

The article also mentioned another study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2011, which found many men who had alleged sexual side effects from Propecia seemed much more permanent than previously believed. However, this was an observational study from a very carefully selected group of men, meaning the results cannot be interpreted as more than circumstantial evidence that side effects of Propecia can include the sexual dysfunctions described. But with various studies pointing in similar directions, the research could justify more scrutiny for Propecia.

Several hundred Propecia lawsuits have been filed. In fact, so many Propecia lawsuits have been filed that the legal system has resorted to a process called an MDL or multidistrict litigation to coordinate them. In MDLs, the legal system groups similar lawsuits together to help streamline the legal process. Since Propecia lawsuits typically make similar allegations and hinge on similar evidence, they may be ideal for grouping into a single Propecia MDL.

Propecia lawsuits may allege that Merck knew—or reasonably should have known—that the drug may cause sexual dysfunction, but continued to market without adequately warning the public of the risk of alleged Propecia side effects. Propecia lawsuits may seek to recoup the cost of medical care and compensation for pain and suffering.

Despite allegations that Propecia may cause sexual side effects in some users, the makers of the drug have sworn to fight the various Propecia lawsuits against them. A spokesman for Merck was quoted as saying “we are aware of the lawsuits. And we intend to vigorously defend against them.”

The larger Propecia MDL is In Re: Propecia (Finasteride) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2331, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.