REPORTAGE
Aspirin, Doliprane and Advil may soon be placed behind the counter of pharmacies and no longer open access to the shelves. This is what the French Medicines Agency (ANSM) wants to limit the risks associated with the misuse of these over-the-counter products.
A measure desired by ANSM in January 2020. It concerns "36 specialties based on paracetamol and 46 based on ibuprofen or acetylsalicylic acid (anti-inflammatory).
Always without prescription
These are the most used drugs in self-medication. They can be in direct access, on the shelves of the pharmacy. "The ANSM wishes that they are no longer in free access and are all placed behind the counter of the pharmacist, strengthening its role of advising patients," says the agency. This would not change the fact that they are available without a prescription.
A desired measure from January 2020, after the end of the "adversarial procedure", a consultation phase of 30 days with industry. Patient associations, pharmacies would all be supportive of this measure.
Risks of overdose
In 2017, a young woman, Naomi Musenga, died after being taunted on the phone by an operator of Samu Strasbourg, which caused a big wave of emotion in France. According to the investigation, this death was "the consequence of a paracetamol intoxication absorbed by self-medication over several days".
For a healthy adult weighing more than 50 kilos, the maximum dose is 3 grams per 24 hours, that is, 1 gram per dose with a space of at least 6 hours between each dose. In addition, the maximum recommended duration of treatment is "3 days in case of fever, 5 days in case of pain, in the absence of prescription", according to the ANSM.
In July, the agency imposed the warning on boxes: "overdose = danger". The first boxes should arrive in October or November.