Spain’s refusal to ban painkiller is risking people’s lives like a game of Russian roulette

Spain has come under fire for its continued prescription of a painkiller, metamizole, known as Nolotil, which has been linked to the deaths of at least 37 British and Irish expats. The drug, which has been withdrawn in countries like Britain, the US, and Australia, is still widely available in Spain, with 27.8 million pills or blisters sold in 2022.

Nolotil has been associated with a condition called agranulocytosis, which can lower a person’s immune system to the point where routine infections become life-threatening. Campaigners have compiled a dossier of 400 cases in Spain, mostly among the English-speaking expat community, with 37 of the documented deaths being British and Irish individuals.

One survivor, Beckie Harris, shared her harrowing experience after nearly dying from taking Nolotil for arthritis-related back pain. She developed acute agranulocytosis and had to be kept in isolation in a hospital in southern Spain. Since then, she has suffered from extreme fatigue, skin rashes, fibromyalgia, and allergies to everyday substances.

The Spanish medicines agency, AEMPS, claims the risk of agranulocytosis from metamizole is low but has advised doctors not to prescribe it to certain populations, including British and other northern European expats. The manufacturer of Nolotil, Boehringer Ingelheim, has defended the drug’s safety profile, stating that agranulocytosis is a rare adverse reaction.

The campaign to ban Nolotil is being led by Cristina García del Campo, who was prompted to take action after the sudden death of a friend. The investigation by Spain’s national court into the availability of this potentially deadly drug continues, raising concerns about the safety of expats and locals alike.