French court charges German pharma firm Merck with ‘deceit’ over thyroid drug

Paris

A French court has ordered a formal investigation of German pharmaceutical firm Merck for failing to inform patients about the side effects of its thyroid drug, Levothyrox.

The lawyer representing Merck’s France unit, Mario-Pierre Stasi, has assured that the company would cooperate with the investigative authorities saying that all legal proceedings must be allowed to run their course.

On Tuesday, the pharma company was charged with “aggravated deceit” after its president was questioned by a judge in southern Marseille city.

Merck said the ruling did not raise concern on the quality of the new formula for Levothyrox, and added that it would provide “all necessary information to show there was no criminal fault of any kind”, reports AFP.

According to Merck, France is the world’s biggest consumer of Levothyrox, with around 2.5 million users taking the drug.

In 2017, a new version of Levothyrox was introduced. However, around 30,000 people in France complained of headaches, insomnia, hair loss or dizziness from taking the new concoction.

Levothyrox drug is used to treat underactive thyroids or following surgery for cancer of the organ, which regulates the body’s metabolism.

The patients accused Merck of misleading them about the potential new side effects, following which a petition was filed calling on the company to bring back the old formula. The petition had gained around 170,000 signatures.

In march 2022, the French Supreme Court rejected the company’s appeal against a lower court’s ruling in 2020 that ordered Merck to compensate 3,300 plaintiffs in a civil case.

(With inputs from agencies)

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