By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 06 Nov 2018 • 16:14
SPAIN’S Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices, AEMPS, has altered their guidelines for the painkiller Nolotil, common in Spain, assuring that the drug will not be prescribed to British tourists in Spain. The drug has been connected to the deaths of ten Britons according to the findings of an investigation into the side effects of the drugs. Cristina Garcia del Campo, medical translator from Alicante and campaigner against the drug Nolotil, was first to lobby an investigation into the supposed link between the painkiller and a number of tourists allegedly falling ill after being prescribed the drug. The inquiry presented findings that ‘at least ten people’ had contracted agranulosis, a condition which wreaks havoc upon the body’s white blood cells and died from blood poisoning after being prescribed the drug Nolotil. At present, the painkiller is not prescribed in Britain, the United States and Sweden but is commonly offered to patients in Spain. Manufacturers of the drug, Boehringer Ingelheim, warn that contracting agranulocytosis as a side effect could affect one in 10,000 patients prescribed the drug. In their review of the painkiller, AEMPS have considered that due to a “genetic peculiarity” it is possible the condition could be more prevalent among British patients. Boehringer Ingelheim reject the findings of the investigation and maintain there is “no scientific evidence” that ‘genetic peculiarities’ in certain populations are more susceptible to develop side effects such as agranulocytosis. • Source: www.spapex.es (PDF opens in new window)
Nolotil painkiller, banned in UK, but prescribed in Spain ‘is killing Brits’ claim
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