Johnson & Johnson Rogaine Labelling Fraud, One Year and Counting

[iiieee]

Last year I wrote a post on this site explaining how J & J have phased out their 5% Rogaine and replaced it with the old 2% solution without informing their users. That's right, you heard right; the shit they are selling now is only 2% that they've labelled with their usual 5% packaging. Just look at it, does it wreak of alchol?! Is it just like water in viscosity? Does it leave a distinctive cooling sensation when you apply it?! It's all 2%!!

 

And, of course, their real jerks about it, too: I sent it back to them for testing and they denied it! I called their nonsense customer service and nothing but BS because none of them know and I wrote the FDA and they don't seem to care (or, at least, I can't say because they don't give feedback!

 

Here's a portion of the letter to the FDA:

 

I recently purchased Rogaine 5% (minoxidil) Extra Strength that was not 5% (minoxidil) in concentration but actually the "old" 2%(minoxidil) Rogaine in 5% Rogaine Extra Strength packaging. I have been using (the Johnson & Johnson/McNeil product) Rogaine since 1991; I switched from their 2% Regular Strength Rogaine to 5% Extra Strength Rogaine in 2005. The fact that I received these shipments of mislabelled Product from Ogdensburg NY, Walmart Pharmacy and Buffalo NY, Rite Aid Pharmacy (5 boxes in total; three 60 oz. bottles in each), cities 350 miles apart, suggests to me that this is a wide spread problem affecting all users of this product, and it is!

 

In response to this, I called their number, listed with their website, and registered a complaint. Thus far they have sent me pre-mailers for the bad products and their receipts of purchase, and I have sent these back. I also noted the expiry dates of the mislabelled products, compared them to the expiry dates of some units I still had that were real 5% solution and went looking on the internet to find units that preceded that date in order to circumvent the problem—I was looking for older product, expiry dates preceding 06/2016 (the last known date I had that I knew was real 5% Monoxidil). . .During the course of this, one of the sellers accidentally sent me an "expiry date" that was later than 06/2016, from New Orleans. And, it was, again, the watery, 2% (Monoxidil) Rogaine in 5% Extra Strength Rogaine packaging! So, it is clear to me that this is a deliberate company action that is affecting the entire United States—and Canada, if they are doing the same thing with the foam version they have for sale there (in which case, users would have no way of knowing until their hair begins falling out, again, because there is no way of doing a visual inspection of the foam, compared to the ease with which this can be do with the liquid).

 

You still might ask how, specifically, do I know? Well, it's simple and interesting: I was in the habit of pouring every bottle of (real) 5% Rogaine into a shallow glass bowl to let it evaporate down a little (about 25%). That brought the results I got with it way up, in fact it was quite astounding. (you may or not recall that the introduction of 5%, after 2% was on the market for some years, promised 45% more hair growth). Rogaine is dose specific. . . So, when Johnson & Jackass switched the product but kept the labelling I was floored! I could see it immediately, from the very second I poured it into my glass bowl--shit! Watery, wreaking of alcohol--shit!! And, I don't mind telling you that I began to cry (on my knees), really, first time as an adult and I'm 57!!

 

Oh, and, that's not even the end of the story. That's when I got onto this site. I posted my findings, without much response and sought alternative brands. I found a post suggesting products from India; the correspondent said that you get what you pay for, so the cheeper american generic brands were out. I bought from a supplier called darksmart, listed on ebay, used it for a week and started to develop severe pain around the lower broader of my right ribcage. This turned out to be what's known as k cramps; I had gallstones! (I just completed an addictions course with my university studies which taught us that one of the pathways for drugs out of the body is with the bile). So: liver--gallbladder--bile duct. . .And, now, I've just received the results of my ultrasound (to see exactly where the stones are lodged). The stones have disolved (I used an olive oil, lemon juice and garlic remedy) but I now have two polyps in my bile duct. . . Gee, thanks JOHNSON & JACKASS, I really hope you saved a lot of $!!!!

 

Now, I would ask you guys on the site if: !. anyone else who has been using Rogaine over the past few years has notice the switch That would really interest me and you have my deepest sympathies! And: 2. Can anyone recommend a good American generic brand of 5% monoxidil?

[ontop]

I use 5% Kirkland brand & seem to be doing the trick.

[MusoInOz]

I use hair a gain have done for almost 8 years and still doing the trick also mate

[iiieee]

Thanks ontop for your reply. And, may I ask about the quality of Kirkland's 5%; is it slightly oily rather than watery (2% is just like water), and does it smell only slight of alcholol or sharply? And, does it contain propylene glycol?

 

Much appreciated,

iiieee

[iiieee]

Hello Musoinoz,

 

I'd just like to thank you for your detailed reply. I will look into to this Hair-A-Gain system that you've suggested later today.

 

Regards,

iiieee