I'm starting to wonder abou the FDA.  They announced this week that they have approved the laser comb for helping reduce hair loss on men.  Well, I guess if you have an extra $500 burning a hole in your pocket, it could be an interesting gadget!

FDA approves Laser Hair Comb

I wonder if the FDA actually claimed that this works.  My dermatologist told me that when the FDA approves products they're not gauranteeing that they'll work, just that it won't cause harm.  Also, something else that he said which was interesting, was that compaines have to pay for an FDA approval.  If that's true, it seems like a conflict of interest to me.

The Food and Drug Administration's test report said subjects who used the treatment "had significantly greater increases in mean terminal hair density" than those who used placebo in the tests.

FDA approval not only requires that the product does not hurt/damage anyone, it must actually produce the results that are claimed.  In this case, the claim is that it will help to grow hair.

Yes, a company/person must pay the FDA for the approval process.  This is to make sure that a product is truely ready to be tested.  Since the FDA is a government agency, their is no profit margin built into the fees they collect for conducting the trials.

bikerbraid wrote on Feb 17^th, 2007 at 2:18pm:

The Food and Drug Administration's test report said subjects who used the treatment "had significantly greater increases in mean terminal hair density" than those who used placebo in the tests. FDA approval not only requires that the product does not hurt/damage anyone, it must actually produce the results that are claimed.  In this case, the claim is that it will help to grow hair.

I would love to see before and after photos.  If it works well it could hopefully help a lot of people, maybe even me as well. :)

I have not been able to find the actual FDA report, but several news sources have quoted the report.  It sounds like the comb only works on male pattern baldness (sorry gals!), and the results are not immediate, it can take several months to see the results.  I'm sure the sales of these combs will sky-rocket now!  (But with a $500 price tag, you would have to be pretty desperate!)

At the risk of getting myself in trouble here, I  know that the FDA Efficacy department is not very efficient in the particular area of Gov't that I work in.  I work for the Cdn Gov't and I know that our requirements for a claim are much higher than the US Gov't in the particular area I work in, therefore, it seems quite possible that that the same would hold true for this.  One thing you could check is if Health Canada has approved the device...that might give you a little more insite into whether or not this device is efficacious.  It might not though, since the product may not have requested registration in Canada.