Teacher killed himself after taking unlicensed hair

A teacher obsessed with not going bald killed himself after switching to a potent anti-hair-loss drug, an inquest heard.

Sam Applegarth, 31, who had no history of mental health problems, hanged himself in Dubai after starting an “online” prescription course of dutasteride, a drug not licensed to help hair loss in the UK.

The PE teacher, who had first sought help for his hair loss aged 22, had used British National Formulary drugs minoxidil and finasteride for years without any side effects.

It emerged during the hearing that there were no known “suicidal ideation” side effects from taking dutasteride – a drug primarily used to treat an enlarged prostate – because there had been a failure to report such feelings in men taking the drug.

Mr Applegarth was raised in Outwood, near Wakefield