In the issue of Salvagente, on newsstands since July 3, a dossier on "thrilling" medicines. There are 353 of those accused. It's a gallery of horrors.
MARTA STRINATI – 02/07/14 – IL SALVAGENTE.it
There are anti-inflammatories that increase the risk of a heart attack. Antibiotics against sinusitis that work less than others but expose you to fulminant hepatitis. The ointment to control eczema that promotes skin cancer. It is a gallery of horrors, the list of active ingredients to avoid drawn up by Prescrire, the prestigious French journal of scientific information on drugs and published in full in the issue of Salvagente on newsstands from Thursday 3 July. A list of 68 molecules monitored for five years and rejected due to the unacceptable risk/benefit ratio. Molecules also prescribed in Italy, where they are present in over 350 drugs.
All listed, family by family, trade name by trade name, in the Italian consumer weekly.
dangerous molecules
The painstaking work of "Prescrire" is the result of monitoring that began in 2010. After an initial report in February 2013, an update has now arrived which confirms the scenario. Among the drugs already reported as dangerous, very few have been withdrawn from the market. Most of it is still there, authorized by the health authorities and dispensed to a population unaware of so many serious threats. The risk is higher for products sold without a prescription, and perhaps advertised by commercials where the warning "may have serious side effects" is a negligible detail of a message that enhances the benefit on symptoms.
But it does not spare prescription drugs, when doctors – even if free from pocket conveniences – are in fact conditioned by the industry, due to the lack of independent and easily accessible information. To fill this information gap, Il Salvagente searched Italy for all the active ingredients reported by "Prescrire". And through the Aifa database, the Italian Medicines Agency, it has given them a recognizable "face": the trade name.
The result is in the long dossier of the lifesaver, which deserves careful scrutiny and equally severe consideration. Those who take one of the drugs on the list should talk about it with their doctor, without suspending the therapy. Those who resort to anti-inflammatories, painkillers, nasal sprays against congestion from colds or other symptomatic drugs will instead be able to act immediately, changing the molecule as suggested by the cards, or giving up unnecessary products (such as those to clear the nose faster than the few days necessary for the natural process).
Guinea pigs for nothing
In the list of "Prescrire" appear new drugs, or with new indications, which in mass use on the population - the phase that shows the real impact
