Health. Which drugs are “more dangerous than useful” in 2021 according to Prescribe?

Prescteggio magazine unveiled its new list of one hundred drugs on Thursday night “more dangerous than useful”, to be avoided due to the “disproportionate” health risks they pose to patients, with newcomers like Propecia against male pattern baldness.

Among those added to this blacklist this year, there are two drugs that expose undesirable effects “disproportionate” in relation to their poor efficacy or the benignity of the disorders treated.

This is the case with the famous drug against moderate hair loss in men, the “finasteride 1 mg” (Propecia and generics). The ANSM Medicines Agency has already warned about the risks of psychiatric (anxiety, depression) and sexual disorders (including ejaculation disorders and decreased libido) that should lead to the discontinuation of this anti-baldness treatment.

Also pinned: piracetam (Nootropyl and generics), a “vasodilator” authorized in various indications including dizziness, and as an adjunct treatment for chronic minor (cognitive or sensorineural) disorders related to aging.

Three other drugs are identified, which have some effectiveness, but with disproportionate side effects or for which there are other, less dangerous options.

112 drugs, 93 of which are marketed in France

IS protection (administration) as a nasal spray “of very uncertain efficacy” against antidepressant-resistant depressions; of pimécrolimus (Elidel not marketed in France) against atopic eczema, but with an increased risk of skin cancer and lymphoma. The third is the romosozumab (Evenity, not marketed in France) for severe osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Among the drugs to be excluded there are also a good ten drugs of the gliflozin family, against diabetes. Sore throat, cough, cold … other products not recommended in previous years are still high on the list.

The 2021 list includes 112 drugs, 93 of which are marketed in France, indicates Prescendere.

The drugs referenced in this list are “causes of death, hospitalization, or serious or very troublesome adverse effects, largely preventable,” the magazine states. However, they are “not necessarily future” mediators “, at the center of scandals and lawsuits (…). Especially if all health actors react in time”, he stresses.