ive recently went to a hairloss clinic in west covina to see if i would beable to get a prescription for proscar. and he tells me thats its illigal to prescribe if i dont have prostate cancer… i dont think he was a doctor because he kept trying to sell me shampoo and saw palleto for 40 bucks..a month. i pass cuz im poor.. anyways is it true? what can i do

It sounds entirely possible that the person you met with was not a doctor. Neither shampoo or saw palmetto are scientifically proven to work in treating male pattern baldness. Finasteride is a medication that has been proven to help MPB, but only a doctor can prescribe it. Finasteride is the generic name for Propecia (for hair loss in 1mg strength) and Proscar (for prostate in 5mg strength).

It would be illegal for a patient to claim a prescription for Proscar under most insurances (when prescribed for hair loss), but you should look to your insurance policy and see the benefits of your plan. However, it is not illegal for doctors to prescribe Proscar for hair loss and it is most proper for the doctor to tell the pharmacist that the pill should be cut into 4 pieces to come close to the recommended, 1mg dose (easier to cut into 4 equal parts, rather than 5 parts). Generally if a doctor prescribes Proscar to treat hair loss, they will instruct the patient to cut the pill into 4 equal pieces for the treatment of male pattern baldness.

To clarify another misconception, Proscar in full strength (finasteride 5mg) is used to treat certain prostate conditions, but not prostate cancer. In fact, Proscar has been proven to reduce prostate cancer risk by up to 25%!

I would recommend that you see an actual doctor and not a salesman.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):