The National Medicines Safety Agency has just banned all promotion of ibuprofen 400mg, following an increase in cases of patients suffering from adverse effects.
Spedifen, Advil, Nurofen, you have all surely needed ibuprofen at least once. As reported by Le Parisien, 30 million boxes of 400 mg ibuprofen are sold each year in France. However, this medication seems to have serious side effects if used incorrectly. The National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) had already decided in 2019 to limit its access by requiring it to be placed behind the pharmacy counter and not freely available to customers.
Although it is still not necessary to have a prescription to obtain it, the ANSM has decided to go even further. It has just banned any promotion of ibuprofen 400mg, whether in the press, on the radio, on television or on the Internet, following the increase in the manifestation of serious adverse effects which can go up to gastrodigestive hemorrhages and kidney damage.
This will then affect “Advil 400, Nurofen 400, Spedifen 400 as well as all generics whose name begins with ibuprofen with the name of the laboratory and the dosage next to it”, detailed Doctor Vella, medical director within ANSM to AFP. Applied from April 2, the ANSM wishes with this ban to act “in favor of the proper use of these medications available without a prescription and in common use”.
Too strong a dosage?
The ANSM considers that this product is consumed far too much with, in addition, a lack of respect for the frequency of taking the medication. She reminds that in case of pain or pride, it is better to take paracetamol rather than an anti-inflammatory.
Furthermore, even if the media mention using “the lowest possible dose”, the overall analysis of the advertisements concluded that these communications “were not likely to encourage patients” to move towards lower dosages. weak. The drug exists in fact with a dosage of only 200 mg but which sells seven times less than that of 400 mg. This being said, this decision “does not call into question the positive benefit-risk balance of these drugs”, however, the ASNM was keen to clarify.