The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has just recommended restricting the indications for methysergide, a molecule prescribed as an anti-migraine and marketed in France under the name Désernil. According to the European health authorities, this drug can indeed cause fibrosis, that is to say a destruction of the fibrous tissues of the kidneys, the liver or the peritoneum.
These side effects are, fortunately, very rare, but they are considered serious enough (peritoneal fibrosis can lead to obstruction of the urinary tract or circulatory insufficiency of the lower limbs) to have prompted the French health authorities a few months ago , to conclude that the risk-benefit ratio was unfavorable for Désernil. Since then, the drug is still on the French market but not all pharmacies are supplied.
New guidance from the European Medicines Agency states that “Methysergide-based medicines should now only be used for the prevention of severe resistant migraines and cluster headaches when standard medicines have not been effective” . The treatment will be prescribed by a medical specialist, with screening for fibrosis at the start of treatment and every 6 months.
These new recommendations, once endorsed by Europe and then by the French health authorities, should make it possible to clarify the prescription of the drug and make Desernil available again for migraine patients who have no other hope of treatment.
