File on 4 Investigates

File on 4 Investigates whether the risks associated with the popular hair loss drug Finasteride are understood, after a 2024 review by UK drug safety regulator the MHRA prompted by a lack of awareness of the drug’s side-effects. Finasteride’s most common side effects are reduced libido and erectile dysfunction, affecting more than one in a hundred patients. Some people also report low mood and suicidal thoughts.
As Johnny I'Anson discovers some hair loss clinics are failing to adequately warn customers at the consultation stage of the sexual side effects assocated with Finasteride.
The drug, which is highly effective at halting hair loss, is only available by private prescription for hair loss purposes.
But File on 4 Investigates discovers influencer accounts on the social media site TikTok promoting finasteride, also offering discounts for Finasteride with Manual, a popular UK men's health company. A lawyer expert told us that the videos we found constituted advertising.
As a prescription-only medicine, it’s illegal to advertise finasteride to the public like this. This programme flagged the videos to TikTok, and they have since been removed. The company has also banned three of the accounts promoting the drug, saying they breached its rules. Manual said it was not involved in the making of the influencers’ videos.
Presenter: Johnny I'Anson
Producer: Rob Byrne
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott

File on 4 Investigates reveals new data showing a significant rise in housing disrepair claims, now a growing market for unscrupulous No Win No Fee lawyers. Adrian Goldberg asks, has the Solicitors Regulation Authority learned its lessons from the collapse of the law firm SSB which left hundreds of householders with huge legal bills, and are they able to protect vulnerable social housing tenants from potentially risky NWNF claims?
File on 4 Investigates have been told by 5 major housing providers across England and Wales that housing disrepair claims have been growing significantly.
One social housing provider in the South of England with an estate of 85,000 homes has told us its seen a 375% rise in the number of legal claims launched by tenants in the last 5 years. We speak to John Golding, a 74 year old pensioner living in a housing association flat in Staffordshire about how a canvasser knocking on his door tried to pressurise him into pursuing a housing disrepair claim with a Manchester based No Win No Fee solicitors' firm.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Jim Booth
Additional research: Laura Longworth
Technical Producers: Richard Hannaford & Cameron Ward
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott

Do you give homeless people cash? Many people fear any donation will be misspent but a ground-breaking study in the UK is currently recruiting 125 homeless people to receive a large one-off cash payment, paid directly to them. There's no restrictions on what they can buy with the money. It can be used for anything, it’s entirely up to the individual how they choose to spend it. The aim of the project is to see if it will help people move on from homelessness for good. With exclusive access to the ongoing study, Michael Buchanan follows some of those who’ve been given the cash to see how the money is being spent and what impact it‘s having on their lives.
Reporter: Michael Buchanan
Producers: Emma Forde and Rob Byrne
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley

Industrial firefighting foams are an essential part of on-site safety in UK factories. But for decades some of these familiar canisters contained potentially dangerous, toxic chemicals.
File on 4 Investigates discovers that 3M the multi-billion dollar chemical company responsible for producing the chemicals knew about the risks as early as the 1960s because their own internal studies on animals and tests on workers indicated a possible increase in rates of cancer. Despite this, the company failed to warn its workers of the dangers associated with using the foams for decades and was involved in an environmental accident at one of its sites that led to the chemicals being released into a Welsh river.
The programme obtained never seen before documents showing the regulator warning the company it thought it had committed an offence but choosing not to prosecute it.
In 2004, with evidence of the risks to the environment of the two specific forever chemicals PFOS and PFOA, a report commissioned by the government recommended any remaining firefighting foams containing the chemicals be incinerated. But we discover in the years after that companies struggled to dispose of legacy stock of foams, and, appearing unaware of the unofficial advice, discharged them straight into the sewer with no treatment, in one case with permission from the water company.
3M said that the health and safety of its workers and their families were “critical priorities" for the company.
Reporter: Esme Stallard
Producer: Anna Meisel
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott

Anne Dyer is a trailblazer - becoming the first female Bishop in the Scottish Episcopal Church when she was appointed more than seven years ago. But since then, accusations of bullying and misconduct have dominated her period in charge - even for a time leading to her suspension and calls for her resignation.
Bishop Dyer denies any wrongdoing, while the church itself acknowledges there are deep wounds within the diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney.
Now File on 4 Investigates has discovered new complaints against the bishop, which she says are "totally without merit".
Reporter: Steve Swann
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford