In April 2024 the MHRA completed a safety review of finasteride and introduced a patient alert card in packs, covering psychiatric and sexual side effects. In May 2026 it went further, strengthening the product information for finasteride 1mg and dutasteride 0.5mg following a European review and advice from the Commission on Human Medicines.
Neither action withdrew the medicine or restricted who can have it. Both were about making sure patients know what to look for.
The Numbers Behind the 2024 Action
Up to 5 April 2024, the MHRA had received:
- 281 Yellow Card reports linking finasteride (1mg and 5mg) to depressed mood disorders and suicidal or self-injurious behaviour, of which 14 related to suicidal behaviour
- 426 reports associated with sexual dysfunction
Yellow Card reports are suspected reactions, not confirmed causal links, and they are voluntary. That cuts both ways: it means the numbers are not proof, and it means they are almost certainly an undercount of everything experienced.
What the 2026 Update Added
The strengthened information makes two things clearer:
- Sexual dysfunction has been reported with and without accompanying mood changes
- Sexual dysfunction may itself contribute to mood disorders — the two are not independent
That second point is the substantive addition. It reframes a side effect that was often treated as merely inconvenient as something that can have downstream psychological consequences.
The Persistence Question
The MHRA's information states that sexual side effects may persist after stopping treatment. This is the aspect patients find most alarming, and it is fair that they do. How often it happens is not well quantified, and the honest answer is that the evidence base is not strong enough to give you a reliable probability.
What you can do is take it seriously at the decision point rather than afterwards: this is an elective, cosmetic treatment taken indefinitely by people who are otherwise well, and that raises the bar for accepting an uncertain risk.
The Patient Alert Card
The card is meant to be shared with family or a partner. That design detail carries the point: mood change is often more visible to the people around you than to you. If someone close to you says you have not seemed yourself since you started, that is data.
What to Do If You Are Taking It
- Depression or suicidal thoughts: stop taking finasteride 1mg and contact a doctor as soon as possible. This is the MHRA's explicit advice, not a cautious paraphrase.
- Sexual side effects: discuss them with your prescriber rather than quietly continuing or quietly stopping.
- Report it. The Yellow Card scheme is why these warnings exist. Reports from patients count.
Keeping It in Proportion
Finasteride remains licensed, widely prescribed and effective for male pattern hair loss. The regulator's judgement is that it should be used with better-informed patients, not that it should not be used. The right response to these warnings is a real conversation before starting and honest monitoring afterwards — not panic, and not dismissal.