Legal proceedings are initiated after the change in formula of the drug, in 2017.
A patient from Toulouse has won her legal battle against the Merck laboratory in the Levothyrox case, reports France Bleu Occitanie on Tuesday July 18. On July 11, the Toulouse court ordered the laboratory to compensate the complainant during the first six months of the marketing of the new formula of the drug, for bodily injury. According to his lawyer, Maître Stella Bisseuil, this is a first in this case.
>> The Levothyrox affair summarized in seven acts
Levothyrox – a drug marketed by the Merck laboratory to fight thyroid disorders – changed its composition in 2017. The new formula had given rise to several legal proceedings. Many patients had indeed complained of side effects. In June 2020, the laboratory was ordered to pay 1,000 euros to each of the 3,300 plaintiffs for non-pecuniary damage and for lack of information on the new formula.
Suffering endured “for months”
The lawyer, who represents nearly fifty plaintiffs from the Toulouse region, explains: “We had never succeeded until now in obtaining compensation for the suffering endured during the six months during which there was no therapeutic alternative to this drug”.
She recalls that “people have suffered from cramps, headaches, weight gain, hair loss…” And “thanks to the expertise of two endocrinologists”his patient “who was taking nothing other than medication other than Levothyrox, was recognized for the bodily injury suffered, with compensation of a few thousand euros”.
Contacted by France Bleu Occitanie, the patient from Toulouse (who wishes to remain anonymous) said to herself “happy with this judgment, this recognition”. She recounts having suffered for months from “headaches, bloating, severe fatigue, weight gain”. The complainant, who received less than 5,000 euros, considers this sum too low and confides that she hoped “higher compensation”.
The laboratory indicted in October 2022
For her part, Stella Bisseuil hopes that “recognition of this bodily injury will eventually set a precedent” and adds that the Merck laboratory can still appeal the decision. In October 2022, Merck, the laboratory, was indicted for “aggravated deception” and placed under judicial supervision. In the wake of the laboratory’s indictment, in December 2022, the ANSM (the National Medicines Safety Agency) was, in turn, indicted for “deception”.