Consumption of tranquilizers and sleeping pills still on the rise

This augmentation “probably reflects the significant psychological impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and its social, professional and economic consequences“, advance the ANSM and the CNAM in the 5th part of their Epi-Phare study on the evolution of drug consumption since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Between October 26 and November 8, the delivery in pharmacies of anti-anxiety drugs was 5.9% higher than the expected level, estimated on the basis of sales for the two previous years, note the two organizations.

Over the next two weeks, this increase even reached 7.6%.

Regarding hypnotic or sedative drugs, the increase was 5.1% and 6.7% respectively over these same periods.

Antidepressants recorded a more moderate increase (+ 1.4% and + 3.3%)

During the first confinement, anxiolytics and sedatives, like many other drugs, had experienced a “storage phenomenon”, followed by “underuse” in the following weeks.

Their delivery was then always higher than the level of previous years (from + 1% to + 14% depending on the week), except in the second half of August, shows the study.

This also confirms the “very sharp decrease in the delivery and use of products that require administration by a healthcare professional, such as vaccines and products for medical diagnostic procedures“.

THE'”collapse“observed during the first confinement”has not been made up to date and the delay cannot be made up in 2020“, warn the CNAM and the ANSM.

In particular, “the drop in the consumption of products for medical diagnostics by imaging, essential for diagnosing certain cancers or serious diseases on the rise” raises concerns “significant delays in support“in oncology and other specialties.

This surveillance, intended in particular to detect possible dysfunctions in the use of health professionals for care not related to Covid-19, “will be continued until a return to a normalized situation“.