Oral cold medications to avoid, Moroccan pharmacies do not provide any information on this issue.

Although this information has caused controversy in France, the use of some oral cold medications in Morocco has not changed. When asked by Maroc-diplomatique on this matter, two pharmacists said they had no information about a possible ban.. In its turn, The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) in France does not recommend taking certain cold medications that can cause cardiovascular disease (CVA).

In Morocco, some pseudoephedrine-based drugs, which have proven effective in relieving nasal congestion, continue to be sold at high rates in pharmacies, while in France the alarm has been raised since last autumn.

Indeed, France’s National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) issued an opinion advising patients not to take oral pseudoephedrine cold medications used to relieve nasal congestion because they may cause nasal congestion. heart attacks and strokes almost two months after taking them.

This warning primarily concerns five pseudoephedrine-based drugs sold in Morocco, namely Dolirhume, Ephedryl, Humex Rhume, Rhumagrip and Rhumix.

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For its part, the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommends that some patients not use these medications to minimize the risk of serious complications.

For this committee: “ Medicines containing pseudoephedrine should not be used in patients with severe or uncontrolled (untreated or treatment-resistant) high blood pressure or severe acute, sudden or chronic long-term renal failure. » PRAC recommends.

At the same time, the organization urges health care providers to encourage patients to stop using these products and seek medical attention if they ever experience symptoms such as severe headaches with sudden onset, nausea, vomiting, confusion, seizures or visual disturbances.

Two pharmacists from Casablanca and Rabat interviewed by Maroc Diplomatique on this matter told us that these products are still present on their shelves and that they have no information about a possible ban.

In Morocco, no information on this matter has been officially released. However, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection previously responded with a circular to the French Agency’s warning about the risks of using these drugs for patients with hypertension or chronic diseases during the Covid pandemic, with the aim of calling for additional precautions when prescribing or dispensing these products

Pharmacy owners also take the same position: they even ask patients who want to purchase these products if they pose any risk factors.

At the same time, other pharmacists, being more vigilant, chose to free up space in telescopic boxes by banning these products from the shelves of their pharmacies.

Patients, in turn, left to their own devices, are often divided into two categories: one who, feeling suspicious, chooses treatment based on paracetamol and vitamin C, and another who, despite warnings, continues to use these products. until further notice.