Concerns about a widely prescribed painkiller in Spain are increasing after recent reports in the British press about a demand for a total ban on the drug. Metamizole, marketed in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, can in rare instances cause a side-effect known as agranulocytosis, which depletes white blood cells and can cause greater vulnerability to infection. On 14th November the Association of Drug Affected Patients (ADAF), a group based in Javéa, Spain, commenced legal action against the Spanish government in an attempt to ban Nolotil. The ADAF claims that it has details of 350 cases in which agranulocytosis may have caused serious illness, amputation or death. chief of Rational Medicine Use at the Canarian Health Service, told Canarias7 that “serious adverse effects of Nolotil are very rare.

Source: The Guardian December 03, 2023 10:12 UTC