title: Warning! One buflomedil may hide another one!
abstract: A 75-year-old woman experienced fever and convulsions. She was treated for diabetes mellitus, angina pectoris and also for arteritis with Buflomedil Merck (3 tab/d). Further investigations failed to find any aetiology. Buflomedil dosage was elevated to 6.3 mg/l (N = 4-4.5 mg/l). The drug was discontinued and there was no recurrence of symptoms. There was no evidence of error in dosage or interaction. A failure of the generic product was suspected. Only a pharmacist solved the problem. Fonzylane (buflomedil) had recently been switched to Buflomedil Merck. The patient misunderstood the change and took both drugs! Our purpose is not to report a known effect but to emphasize the importance of extending the information given to the patient and the risk of misuse of the generic product.
authors.affiliation: Centre Régional de Pharmacovigilance, Institut de Biologie, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiffoleau
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yatim
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Garrec
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Veyrac
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larousse
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bourin
mesh_terms: D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D004348:Drug Labeling; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D016568:Drugs, Generic; D011759:Pyrrolidines; C010651:buflomedil