Levothyrox, a medicine used by people with thyroid disorders, has continued to be controversial since it was put on the market in March. The latter is indeed accused by thousands of patients to cause side effects sometimes very annoying.

A rally in front of the National Assembly is organized this Friday, September 8, 2017.

Victims determined to be heard

"A small gathering of victims is planned, which will be represented by members of the French Association of Thyroid Patients (AFMT) and Sylvie Robache, the author of the petition 'Against the new dangerous Levothyrox for patients! "The aim is to alert parliamentarians," explains Sébastien Barles, environmental activist and co-founder of the Vigilobb * association.

A press conference will then be held in the Bureau of the European Parliament.

Will be present (or expected), health professionals, but also political figures from different parties, like Michèle Rivasi (MEP ecologist), Claude Malhuret (Senator Les Républicains) or Francois Ruffin (MP France Infidel).

"A letter of support written by Annie Duperey will also be read," says Sébastien Barles. Indeed, the actress, personally affected by the side effects of the new formula, wishes to support the actions of the AFMT by this missive addressed to Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Health.

Recover old formula stocks as "emergency measure"

"We want, as the Netherlands has, the withdrawal of the new formula, and as a matter of urgency, we would like to be able to buy back stocks of the old formula for people who are currently suffering from side effects."

Patients and victim associations are demanding that an analysis of the new formula be conducted "to see where the problem really comes from".
"The health crises follow one another and they are always treated the same way.The suffering of the victims is nothing for them," laments the environmental activist. "At the end of May, we were alerted by patients and wrote to the ANSM, but we did not receive any answers from them, and at the end of July she said that she was still not aware of the problem. began to move when the media seized the case, "he adds.

If this day of action does not achieve success and expected results, Sébastien Barles informs us that other remedies will be undertaken "after consultation with a group of lawyers". Nevertheless, according to him, "a collective action would be too long to put in place."

"Today, we must react urgently and we hope that this day can unblock everything," he concludes.

A complaint officially filed by a patient

For several months, many patients have accused Levothyrox of causing them side effects binding.

According to them, a new formulation, put on the market last March at the request of the ANSM for problems of product stability, would be responsible for their ills. Lactose, an excipient with known effect, has indeed been replaced by mannitol and citric acid, while levothyroxine, its active ingredient, remains the same.

Faced with an influx of reports, the ANSM, which estimates so far that the drug does not involve any security problem, launched a survey currently underway and the results are expected next October.

But a first complaint, filed August 29, 2017 according to information from Agence France Presse (AFP) by a victim of the side effects of the new formulation, could give a boost to it.

Anne-Catherine Colin-Chauley, a 58-year-old lawyer accuses the laboratory Merck, maker of the offending drug, of "endangering the lives of others". It states in its complaint that "There is a faulty negligence of the Merck laboratory and a fault of the one who ordered the change of the molecule without indicating the possible consequences of this change."

* Association engaged against the lobbies.