Remember: in 2017, Merck laboratories began marketing a “new formula” of Levothyrox®, a drug intended to treat hypothyroidism. Issue : with the “new formula” in question, the side effects are increasing: headaches, diarrhea, insomnia, dizziness, hair loss… Thousands of patients are reporting more or less severe side effects, attributed to this new composition of the medicine.
The marketing of the old formula of Levothyrox was scheduled to end at the end of this year. But, at the request of the French medicines agency (ANSM), the Merck laboratory has just extended the availability of this drug until the end of 2025 against hypothyroidism. A decision awaited by several patient associations, dissatisfied with the new formula proposed since 2017.
Remember that the laboratory which markets Levothyrox, this medication indicated in the treatment of thyroid disordersis indicted for “aggravated deception” (find out more on “the Levothyrox affair“). He is accused of not having communicated sufficiently when changing his formula in 2017
An old version used by 100,000 patients
A “huge relief” for “around 100,000 patients who continued to use it every day” and who “feared that it would disappear”, welcomed the French Association of Thyroid Patients (AFMT).
The associations estimated that neither the new formula of Levothyrox marketed by the Merck laboratory since 2017 nor any of the other comparable drugs put on the market were suitable for certain patients.
The list of currently available levothyroxine medications is downloadable from the ANSM website.
Levothyrox: new health scandal?
This medication helps regulate the thyroid. 3 million French people take this treatment every day. In March 2017, a new formula was launched on the French market by the Merck laboratory. The latter poses a problem. Thousands of patients complain of side and adverse effects. We take stock on Top Santé TV:
-1597155771.jpg "Levothyrox: extension of the old formula until the end of 2021")
