PRODUCTION: CBC/Radio-Canada
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
PRODUCTION COUNTRY: Canada, France, Italy
DATE: March 2025
LENGTH: 39′
DIRECTED BY: Judith Plamondon

Finasteride, commercially known as Propecia, is a widely used drug prescribed to slow hair loss in men. Yet over the past fifteen years, health authorities have issued serious warnings about its side effects: in some cases, the medication appears to cause persistent sexual dysfunction and severe depression, symptoms that can endure even after patients stop taking it. In The Rare but Debilitating Side Effects of Finasteride for Hair Loss, several men share how their lives were irreversibly altered by the drug, amid allegations of misleading marketing strategies and questionable scientific practices. The film raises a crucial question: did the manufacturer know about these risks?