The ANSM is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the proper use of drugs, while according to a study 30% of French people adapt the dose or duration of the treatments prescribed to them by themselves.
“A medicine is never trivial”, warns Wednesday June 7 on franceinfo Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil, director general of the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM), while this agency is launching a campaign on the proper use of medicines. The objective of this campaign is to inform and raise awareness among the French, “very drug-intensive” about the risks involved in taking any treatment.
Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil reminds us that when we change the dosage of a prescribed drug, we can “alter the expected efficacy of the drug”but we are also exposed “to significant adverse effects, which can lead to hospitalizations or death”.
Stay “Always Vigilant”
Even a widely used treatment, such as “paracetamol, the most consumed drug” present “benefits and risks”, insists Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil. Thus, if paracetamol is “extremely effective and safe when you follow the rules”on the other hand if we “Increase the dosage or if you reduce the time between two doses, you are exposed to very serious risks with liver damage that can lead to a transplant”.
To avoid any risk, the Director General of the ANSM therefore calls on the French to be “always vigilant” for the slightest medicine lying around in his medicine cabinet and in case of doubt to “to get close to [leur] doctor or pharmacist”.
An expiry date to respect
According to a recent study conducted for the ANSM, 34% of French people consider it rather safe or not at all risky to take an expired medicine. However, Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil insists on the importance of the deadline fixed on the treatment boxes. “The expiry date is based on studies which have shown that during this period, the drug can deploy its effectiveness with a minimum of risk”, explains the Director General of the ANSM. It warns of the risks incurred for those who decide not to follow the deadlines:
“We expose ourselves either to a loss of efficiency, or to possible contamination and therefore to a significant risk for patients.”
Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil, Director General of ANSMat franceinfo
To avoid ending up with too many drugs in their medicine drawer, which can lead some French people to self-medicate or exceed expiry dates, the ANSM pleads for “adapt the volume and content of the boxes to the indications and the duration of treatment” ordered by the healthcare professional. “We ask manufacturers to have suitable content”insists the director general of the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil.