The Medicines Safety Agency is setting the record straight. Abilify, indicated for schizophrenia, is not authorized for the treatment of autism.
The pill is not a good way to beat autism. After denouncing the death by suicide of Yassine, a 13-year-old autistic youngster, the association sends a letter to the Minister of Health on February 12. She called for the launch of an investigation into the conditions for prescribing Abilify (aripiprazole), an antipsychotic drug indicated in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
On February 8, Vanquish Autism alerts on the death of a young autistic recently placed on Abilify. His family has not been informed of the side effects of the treatment, although the risk of suicide is listed on the summary of product characteristics. During the year it lasts, “two serious incidents occur,” according to Overcome Autism. Yassine “throws himself down the stairs, then during an outing by a lake where he often went with his family, suddenly decides to come in up to the waist. »The last episode is fatal: the child end of 10e stage.
After the Vaincre Autisme association, the National Medicines Safety Agency is setting the record straight …
Posted by Why actor on Sunday 14 February 2016
7 suicides listed
In his letter to Minister Marisol Touraine, sent on February 12, M’Hammed Sajidi, president of Vaincre Autisme, therefore calls for an investigation into the prescription conditions of the drug in France and the resulting care. The list of requests also includes the requirement for a pharmacovigilance alert.
Of which act. The same day, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) publishes an information point in which she recalls that aripiprazole is not indicated in the treatment of autism. “A use of aripiprazole outside the indications authorized within the framework of the Marketing Authorization (marketing authorization, editor’s note) has been identified and more particularly in autism, ”says the Agency.
However, neither the safety nor the effectiveness of the drug has been demonstrated in this use. Conversely, in minor patients, incidents are not uncommon. Since the start of the product’s sale in 2002, 7 cases of suicide and 137 suicidal behaviors or attempted suicides have been recorded in children or adolescents (3-17 years old). This is why, as part of such treatment, close monitoring is recommended.
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