vicious drug???

My mother was in a college in 1982 or 1983, where she
met a man with no hair. He said that he had a certain
ailment (mom doesn't remember what) for which the
doctor prescribed a certain drug. Then his hair fell
out and nevcer returned. He had to go to the US (I'm in
Toronto) to find a book in which he read that a side
effect of his drug is hair loss. Does anyone know
what illness/"remedy" this could be (remember this
is 1982 or so). And why did the doctor here not know about
the side effect, and if anyone knows what drug this
is, has it been removed/replaced on the market? Any
information would be welcome.

There are a number of drugs that cause hair loss. Obviously chemotherapy does, but many people dont know some of the others.

Naproxin Sodium (Nuprin)
Artificial Estrogens
Beta Blockers (used for depression)
and many others.

Now, that being said, most medications that cause hair loss do not do so permanently. Chances are that the man you are talking about had Alopecia Universalis or Alopecia Totalis. These are not caused by medications but do cause complete hair loss either on the head or on the entire body (eyebrows, eyelashes, chest hair, leg hair, etc).

I`m pretty sure this guy took a drug that can cause baldness. He found the side effect listed in some
book.