Bad communication on thyroid hormones replacements sparks controversy in France.
Many metabolic processes rely on thyroid hormones, including energy expenditure, heart rate and weight gain. These hormones also regulate moods, concentration… As a consequence, a thyroid gland malfunction has serious adverse effects on the human body. Levothyroxine – a manufactured form of the thyroid hormone – was developed in order to prevent such complications. In France, 3 million people use Levothyrox – a medicine produced by Merck & Co, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It was the only medicine used to counter such hormonal disturbances until May 2017, when Merck marketed a new formula.
This change was very poorly received by some patients, who complained about many new unpleasant side effects. The production of the old formula for Levothyrox is to stop from 2018 on, and the drug will no longer be sold the following year. This troubled the patients who suffered those side effects, and believed the ne drug was flawed. The media was quick to take on the news, however wrong. It so happens the original drug deteriorated quickly. As a consequence, with time, the hormone levels it contained, dropped drastically too. Also, when patients thought they were taking a 50µg, they were actually taking fewer hormones. Hence the new formula, developed to stabilise the medication.
The controversial new formula has replaced the lactose found in the drug by citric acid. As a consequence, the dosage written on the drugs no longer drops – which is new for patients. They ended up unknowingly ingesting higher dosages of hormones, which triggered the unwelcome side effects. Faced with much public anger, Merck agreed to further produce 100 000 new boxes of the older version of the drug to helps patients through the transitional phase. It should be ready by early 2018, the company says.
This, however, has not silenced the angry patients, who still demand for the old formula to be sold in the future. And it is easy to understand where their anger comes from: as a result of bad communication, they ended up unknowingly taking too much hormones – with serious adverse consequences. However, their anger should rather turn towards the French Agency for the Safety of Health Products, who authorised the new drug without giving any warning about any consequence it might have for sick people.
In 2015, Belgium was faced with similar drug stability issued with their own manufactured form of the thyroid hormone. The drug formula was then successfully changed with state backing – and a public media campaign warning patients. They even benefited from special transitional care, and there was no controversy whatsoever. In France, however, where none of this was planned, the lack of due information caused an outcry based on conspiracy theories.
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