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EMA Probe Prompts New Safety Measures For Decades-Old Drug Metamizole

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee has concluded that the benefits of medicines containing metamizole continue to outweigh the risks but that new measures are needed to minimize the serious outcomes of agranulocytosis.

Metamizole has been used for many years in the EU to treat pain and fever • Source: Shutterstock

Companies marketing metamizole-containing drugs in the EU to treat pain and fever will have to update the product information to raise awareness of the known risk of agranulocytosis and facilitate early detection and diagnosis of the condition.

The move follows an investigation by the European Medicines Agency into the risk of agranulocytosis associated with metamizole, a drug that has been in use in the EU since the 1920s but is banned in the US and other countries because of

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• By Eliza Slawther

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EU Pharma Reform: Exclusivity Vouchers Alone Are Insufficient Incentive For Antimicrobials, Industry Says

 
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What The EMA Can Teach HTA Bodies About Joint Clinical Assessments

 
• By Francesca Bruce

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US FDA Expands Surprise Foreign Inspections But Loses Associate Commissioner Michael Rogers

 
• By Sue Sutter

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