Merck offers money back guarantee on finasteride

BMJ 1994;309:1252-1253 (12 November)

News

Merck offers money back guarantee on finasteride

A Tonks

Merck, the American drug manufacturer, is offering a money backguarantee with finasteride (Proscar), its new drug treatmentfor benign prostatic hyperplasia. The company is offering torefund the cost of the drug if it fails to improve symptomswithin six months or if the patient needs prostatic surgerywithin two years.

Finasteride is an antiandrogen, prescribed by general practitionersand urologists, which inhibits the metabolism of testosterone,reducing the volume of prostatic tissue and improving urinaryflow rates in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is theonly drug of its class and, according to Mr David Kirk, a consultanturologist at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, offers an alternativeto prostatectomy for some men. "I don't think there would beany problem about offering a money back guarantee on these kindof drugs," he said. "Some men do extremely well on treatment,but a significant minority don't improve . . . [Full text of this article]