The Levothyrox, marketed by Merck Laboratories, is a drug used by patients with disorders of the thyroid. Since 2017, the sudden change in its formula has made waves among the three million French people who take this treatment daily. Dizziness, malaise, headaches, fatigue, cramps … In less than six months, nearly 15,000 reports ofside effects are reported to the Medicines Safety Agency (Ansm) by dissatisfied patients.
A petition launched in 2017 by Sylvie Robache (the first patient to have raised the alarm) collects more than 350,000 signatures and asks “Give us back the old formula of Levothyrox”.
And for good reason the old formula of this drug against thyroid disorders, was about to disappear from pharmacies in September 2020.
Twist: the old formula of Levothyrox will finally be available until the end of 2021 according to a letter from the Ministry of Health and distributed by the Association Française des Malades de la Thyroïde (AFMT). Information confirmed Monday, August 10 by the Directorate General of Health (DGS) to AFP.
Levothyrox: 90,000 patients affected by this decision
“It is above all a huge relief for the 90,000 patients affected who until this decision were threatened with being brutally deprived of the drug that suits them and having to relive their painful experiences of 2017 from September. And it is first of all of them that we think “, welcomed the AFMT in a press release published on August 8.
The new formulation of Levothyrox has been marketed by Merck laboratories since March 2017. One of the excipients, the lactose, had been replaced by citric acid and mannitol – at the request of the National Agency for Health Products and Medicines – to ensure “better product stability”. However, this new formula is accused of causing many side effects such as migraines, dizziness, hair loss, severe fatigue, muscle and joint disorders…
Levothyrox: Ansm concluded that there was no risk in June 2019
In June 2019, the Ansm published a report on the consequences of switching to the new formula of Levothyrox. In its conclusion, the agency stressed that “these results do not provide an argument in favor of a specific toxicity of the new formula of Levothyrox”. According to this report, the multiple complaints “rather reflect the difficulties encountered by some patients during the change of formula”.
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