“A major health scandal”: Patients victimized by Androcor and other progestins attack the state

Women suffering from brain tumors, after taking the progestin Androcar, are suing the state for compensation.

The two requests were filed with the Montreal Administrative Court on March 7.

Lutenil and Luteran, two other drugs have also been implicated.

They are seeking compensation for the damages they have suffered. Patients suffering from meningiomas, brain tumors, after taking the progestin Androcar, which greatly increases the risk, filed two requests on March 7 with the Administrative Court of Montreal in Seine-Saint-Denis. They were recorded by AFP on Friday March 29, according to a receipt consulted, which confirms information from the newspaper. world

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This “In this major public health scandal, the state, therefore the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) aims to identify the shortcomings” and get “Compensation of 748,777 euros and 361,515 euros respectively”Charles Joseph-Odin, the applicant’s lawyer, explained to AFP. “Another three requests will be filed by the end of next week” And others will follow.

A causal link is maintained

His office has 450 files on women taking Androcor and other progestins, Luteran and Lutenil, authorized on the French market in 1974 and 1983. “Fifty individual judicial expertises have already been ordered” And “20 completed expert opinions maintain a causal relationship between these meningiomas and drug intake”., he said. They point out “Above all, lack of information” On the known risks of these treatments, the drawback of “The primary responsibility lies in conjunction with the responsibility of laboratories of the State (ANSM).”

The Amavea Association, which brings together 900 patients suffering from meningiomas, tumors of the membrane surrounding the brain sometimes described as “benign” but which can cause severe neurological disability, is in discussions with the Ministry of Health, Me Joseph-Odin. . so that it is put in place “A compensation system was made for mediator And Depakine“Scams leading to compensation.

A widely prescribed drug

Theoretically indicated against excessive hair growth, but indicated well outside these indications – for example endometriosis, against acne or as a means of contraception – the link of Androcor (cyproterone acetate) with meningiomas was clearly established in 2018.

Androcar prescriptions fell by nearly 90% between January 2018 and December 2023, according to the ANSM. At the end of November 2023, fewer than 10,000 patients were treated with Androcor, compared with around 90,000 patients at the end of 2017.