Yasmina Kattou / Photo credit: Thibaut Durand / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 12:20 p.m., December 16, 2023

Some medications are useless or even harmful to health. This is revealed by the medical journal "Prescrire" which has published a blacklist of 105 products, including 88 marketed in France, which could cause serious side effects on health. There are the Maxilase, the Toplexil, the Actifed or the Dolirhume.

They are often part of our medicine cabinets, but we have to be careful. 105 drugs, including 88 marketed in France, are on the 2024 blacklist of the medical journal Prescrire. The risk-benefit balance is unfavourable. Some drugs are useless or even dangerous.

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The list points to cough syrups such as Maxilase or Toplexil. At best, they are ineffective, at worst they can lead to serious side effects. "The data show that they do not have clinical efficacy beyond that of a placebo, but that on the other hand they expose them to certain risks such as allergic reactions and serious, sometimes fatal skin reactions," explains Séverine Carré-Petraud, editorial director of the journal Prescrire. "Toplexil, for example, exposes you to neurological disorders."

Lead in Smecta

Another medication to take out of your medicine cabinet: Smecta used in intestinal disorders contains lead. "Lead has toxic, neurological, haematological, renal and cardiovascular effects and also effects on reproduction," says Séverine Carré-Petraud.

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The journal also warns about cold medicines such as Actifed or Dolirhume that put you at risk of stroke or heart attack. The French Agency for the Safety of Medicines advises the French not to consume these products anymore.