Was there lack of information on the risks incurred? Précrisse for years, the medication Androcur taken in high doses can give meningiomas, benign brain tumors. Many women have not been notified, three of them have just filed a complaint.

First prescribed to combat excessive hair, the drug Androcur was also given to women suffering from endometriosis or acne, sometimes in high doses and for years. We have known since 2008 that this medication can give meningiomas, benign brain tumors. But most patients ignored it and only learned it in recent months. This is the subject of the complaint that three victims have just filed. Other files will follow.

Marie, 45, is one of the three complainants. In spring 2016, his life changed . She suffers from headache, dizziness, motor problems that keep growing. She first puts that on the account of fatigue, and then in September, she ends up consulting. At MRI, it is found several meningiomas, including 6 cm wide. You must immediately operate. Trimun, to remove a tumor behind his eye like a clementine. Today she keeps consequences, recurring headaches in particular. To date, she has still not been able to go back to work normally. His life was permanently upset.

Marie does not bring together the Androcur until last September, that is to say two years after the discovery of her meningiomas, when other women testify and give the alert. Marie took Androcur for ten years from 2006 to 2016. It was her contraceptive, she was never informed of the risk:

“Androcur, for me, it was just a pill, I was never told that it could give tumors to the brain, I trusted my gynecologist, it had been more than ten years since he followed me. ”

In 2016, however, when he operates his meningioma, the neurosurgeon immediately said to Mary to arrest Androcur . It means he knew. Because since 2008, the risk was known: a doctor, Sébastien Froelich, had given the alert at the time. From 2011, the medication instructions also mentioned Méningiomes. But the message has remained too confidential, patients did not have the information, it was only at the end of 2018 that an in -depth study measured the risk (very strong if the doses are high and prescribed over several years) and the drug agency has recommended to limit the indications and to monitor patients by MRI. Maître Charles Joseph-Oudin, Marie's lawyer accuses: what a lost time!

The position of the law today is to say that the patient must be informed as soon as there is a suspicion of risk, even if this risk is not perfectly measured. So, as early as 2008, suspicion justified concrete information measures.

The same story as that of Marie arrived in Emmanuelle. Today she chairs the association of victims. Emmanuelle took Androcur for 14 years, to treat her endometriosis, until tumors are found. It was in 2017:

“I was followed by three different gynecology teachers, I was never told anything and those I questioned told me: 'Yes, we knew it, but we thought that the risk was so weak that it was not worth saying it'! ”

Luteran and Lotényl also on the hot seat

It's not just Androcur : two other drugs are today on the hot seat. These are Lotéran and Lotényl, the progestins too, used for pre-menopause, in the event of endometriosis or menstrual disorders. For two months, the ANSM, the drug agency, has been a risk of meningioma there again. But do women know this? And aren't we creating a second Androcur ? This is the question posed by Élisa. She took lutenyl for 14 years and suffers today from several meningiomas:

"You have to warn women, that they are given an exam, and that we stop prescribing for a long time. Very clearly, this medication was not vital for me. If I had known, I would not have made the choice I made". 

Lawyer Charles Joseph-Oudin is preparing other complaints for Androcur . It also constitutes files at the moment for Lotéran and Lotényl.

First complaints for Androcu R April 22, 2019-France-Inter