The letter from the manufacturers of the drug Nolotil to doctors comes so late

2024-12-11 16:46:00

Let’s talk about Nolotilthat medicine so popular in Spain against pain and fever. But be careful, it has its little things, eh? Nolotil, whose active ingredient is metamizoleit is the best-selling pharmaceutical brand in Spain. It is mainly used for moderate to severe acute pain and also for high fever that does not go away with other treatments.

Sounds good, right? But here comes the important thing: it has a rare, but very serious, side effect called agranulocytosis. And what is agranulocytosis? Well, look, that’s when the granulocytes in the blood suddenly decrease a lot. These are a type of white blood cell that defend us from infections. If they drop that much, we are more exposed serious infections that can even be fatal.

Therefore, the The pharmaceutical companies selling Nolotil in Spain have sent a letter to doctors so that they are aware. In it they explain the symptoms to watch out for:

• Fever
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Painful changes in the mucous membranes (mouth, nose, throat, genital or anal area)

The curious thing is that these symptoms can appear at any time during treatment or even after finishing it. So you have to keep your eyes wide open. If you notice any of these symptoms, don’t think about it! Stop taking the drug and consult a doctor immediately.

And drug manufacturers, pharmaceutical agencies and many doctors remain the same: the laboratories act now and with a letter stating that their drug can kill, but that The one who has to be careful is the one who takes it.

THE Spanish Medicines Agencyit makes the letter its own, thus protecting the producers’ activity, and does not respect its pharmacovigilance work, to protect the population. This has been going on for years, that’s why it was reported a year ago.

And some doctors who say they inform their patients well about the harms of Nolotil say so at the same time the sector letter is useful and that it is “a good help”. Do healthcare workers really need manufacturers and the Agency that defends their interests to “help” them years after deaths and serious harm caused by Nolotil were detected?

And there’s nothing better than doing something almost useless to pretend that something gets done, but in reality nothing changes and the business continues, that’s what it’s all about. Because the European Medicines Agency (EMA) continues to say that it has carefully examined the matter and has concluded that The benefits of Nolotil continue to outweigh the risks. Of course it must always be used under medical supervision.

It is interesting to know that Nolotil is widely used in countries such as Spain, Germany or Italy, but is not authorized in others such as France, the United Kingdom or the United States. It appears that some northern European populations may have done so increased risk of developing agranulocytosiswhich is why many cases have been documented among Britons living in Spain.