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Piracetam: not for use on stroke patients

Piracetam's official indication as a treatment for the after-effects of stroke has at last been withdrawn. The drug is still on sale however, and is refundable in other situations, even though its medical benefit is insufficient.

Available for more than 30 years in France, piracetam has no proven clinical effectiveness for its official therapeutic indications.

The French Pharmacoeconomic Committee (which assesses the medical benefits of new drugs) concluded in 2004 that "the medical benefits provided are insufficient for all the therapeutic indications" making it unjustifiable for piracetam to be reimbursed. Furthermore, it can cause various adverse effects, including haemorrhages.

The re-evaluation of piracetam by the French drug regulatory body (AFSSAPS) has finally led to the deletion of one of the therapeutic indications of this drug, the one relative to "the after-effects of ischaemic stroke".

The best treatment in the acute phase of an ischaemic stroke is above all aspirin, either alone or in some cases combined with low-dose unfractionated heparin.

©Prescrire July 2005

Source: "Piracétam : exit l’indication dans les AVC" Rev Prescrire 2005 ; 25 (263) : 505.

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