Levothyrox: bodily injury linked to the change of formula recognized by the courts for the first time

If the moral damage had already been recognized by the courts, for lack of information on the new formula, this is the first time that a court has recognized the physical damage caused by the change in composition of the drug Levothyrox.

As a reminder, at the end of March 2017, the French subsidiary of the German laboratory Merck marketed the new formula of Levothyrox (indicated for thyroid disorders). This uses the same active ingredient as the old formula, levothyroxine, but contains new excipients. The objective is to make your concentration more stable to increase your efficiency. But quickly, patients complained of numerous side effects (cramps, headaches, dizziness, hair loss, etc.) which they associated with taking this new formula.

Compensation of a few thousand euros

In October 2017, patients took legal action. In June 2020, the Merck laboratory was ordered to pay 1,000 euros to each of the 3,300 plaintiffs for moral damage linked to a lack of information on the new formula. On the other hand, the bodily harm linked to the numerous side effects of the new formula had not until now been recognized by French justice. It’s now done! On July 11, 2023, the Toulouse judicial court rendered a judgment in favor of a patient: it ordered the Merck laboratory to compensate the victim during the first six months of the marketing of the new formula, for bodily injury. “Until now, we have never succeeded in obtaining compensation for the suffering endured during the six months during which there was no therapeutic alternative to this medication. People have suffered from cramps, headaches, weight gain, hair loss… Thanks to the expertise of two endocrinology doctors, my patient who was taking nothing other than Levothyrox as medication, recovered. is seen recognizing the bodily injury suffered, with compensation of a few thousand euros”, declared the plaintiff’s lawyer, Maître Stella Bisseuil.

The Toulouse patient would have received less than 5,000 euros, a sum that she considers insufficient in view of the bodily harm endured. Questioned by the media France Bleu Occitanie, she said she was “happy with this judgment, this recognition” but would have hoped for higher compensation for having suffered from “headaches, bloating, severe fatigue, weight gain”, because of a medication.

A case that could set a precedent

Maître Stella Bisseuil specifies that the Merck laboratory can appeal this decision. In total, the lawyer defends around fifty plaintiffs from the Toulouse region. She stated that “each case will be treated differently, she explains, depending on the effects suffered.but she hopes that “lThe recognition of this bodily injury will eventually set a precedent.”