Nolotil painkillers

The death toll in Spain from alleged side effects of taking the Nolotil painkiller is reportedly 20 people as of November 2018.

The Nolotil drug is a Metamizol based painkiller.  The drug is available on prescription in Spain.

It is banned in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the USA.

Nolotil painkillers

AEMPS, the Spanish Agency of Medicines, has consequently launched an investigation into the alleged side effects.

The investigation is exploring the possibility that northern Europeans are more susceptible to suffering side effects from taking the drug.

The vast majority of consumers who have suffered side effects have been from northern European countries, particularly the UK and Ireland.

The AEMPS has reported that possible side effects include;

• Mild allergic reactions (itching, burning, redness, swelling)
• Shortness of breath
• Gastrointestinal complaints
• Swelling of the feet, hands, lips, throat and airways,
• Severe bronchospasm (narrowing of the walls of the bronchi),
• Disturbances of heart rhythm
• Decrease in blood pressure (sometimes preceded by an increase in blood pressure)
• Hypotension (low blood pressure) effects 1 in 10 patients

Rare side effects (effecting 1 in 1000 patients) such as allergic reactions may occur during or just after administration but also hours later.

Other rare side effects include;

• Maculopapular skin reactions
• Decrease in the number of white blood cells (leukopenia)
• Asthma

Very rare side effects (1 in 10,000 patients) include;

• Skin reactions in which vesicles or blisters appear (toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome)
• Kidney problems with decreased or suppressed urine
• Inflammation of the kidney (interstitial nephritis),
• Agranulocytosis (which can lead to death)
• Decrease in the number of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia)
• Shock (drastic drop in blood pressure)