The independent medical journal Prescribe which had already alerted in 1997 against the Pick, is now asking for the withdrawal of three other drugs.
In particular, the buflomedil, a drug used for painful manifestations of arteritis during walking, which according to the review, “has neurological and cardiac adverse effects, sometimes fatal, especially in high doses or unsuitable for kidney failure” . The magazine adds that this drug is “of no demonstrated therapeutic benefit. It must be withdrawn from the market”.
To support his statements, Prescrire quotes a report from the National Pharmacovigilance Commission of the French Medicines Agency (Afssaps) which reveals that “several dozen cases of serious adverse effects with this medicine, including several fatal, have been notified. between 2007 and 2009 “.
The review concludes “How many victims do the companies concerned or the Afssaps (health products agency) still need to decide to withdraw this drug from the market?”
Two other drugs are also criticized by Prescrire: the nimesulide, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and vinflunine, an anticancer drug (used for bladder cancer in particular).
the nimesulide was already the subject, in 2008, of a report by the European Commission for marketing authorization which considered that “the risk-benefit balance of nimesulide was unfavorable”. In 2010, this commission provided a second report, at the request of Prescrire, in which it confirmed the “serious hepatic adverse effects of nimesulide, with more than 500 cases of liver damage including cases requiring the use of liver transplants. “. Despite these observations, this drug is still marketed in France while other countries such as Finland, Spain or Belgium have banned it for a few years now.
Finally, the vinflunine, “a cytotoxic anticancer drug, is marketed in second line in certain bladder cancers, advanced or metastasized” does not bring, according to the review “any progress for better treatment” and has an “unfavorable benefit-risk balance”.
In its December 2010 issue, Prescrire already questioned the need to put patients at risk “why take the slightest risk when there is no demonstrated tangible benefit?” and called for greater vigilance with regard to adverse drug reactions and faster decisions to withdraw from the market.
