This maintenance temporarily relieves patients, but also recalls the memory of a health crisis and a long judicial showdown still in progress.
A new extension of the distribution of the old formula
On October 1, 2025, the Merck laboratory and the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) announced that the supply of Euthyrox could be extended until the end of 2028. “The Merck laboratory told health authorities its ability to extend the supply of euthyrox until the end of 2028 in France “the ANSM said in its official press release.
This formula, identical to the old version of the Levothyrox distributed before 2017, therefore continues to be imported from Germany, manufactured on the Merck of Darmstadt. The boxes, packaged by 50 tablets and available in six dosages (25 to 150 µg), are accompanied by a notice in French, although the packaging bears the name Eleaintended for the Argentinian market.
The ANSM insists on a crucial point: “Euthyrox should not be prescribed in initiation of treatment “. The health authorities recall that this is a transitional solution. Patients are invited to consult their doctor to organize a progressive change to another specialty based on levothyroxine, with careful medical follow -up. And the recommendation remains clear: “Do not stop or never change your treatment without medical advice “.
A relief measured on the side of patient associations
For many patients attached to the old formula, this extension is immediate relief. Since 2017, some have been testifying to persistent difficulties in adapting to the new Levothyrox formula, describing fatigue, headache, dizziness or insomnia. Maintaining the euthyrox in pharmacies until 2028 offers them breathing, the guarantee of avoiding a sudden rupture.
Patient associations see it as a partial victory, but also a responsibility. Because this decision only rejects the deadline: there is less than three years left to organize a secure transition, doctor per doctor, patient per patient. The ANSM itself calls for “Organize a change in treatment for your patients treated with euthyrox” in order to “To adjust the dosages and allow the patient to get used to his new treatment.”
The extension therefore appears both as an outstretched hand and a warning: the outcome is already fixed, the preparation can no longer wait.
A legal battle still in progress
Behind the technical announcement, a heavy legal litigation continues to agitate this case. The ANSM was indicted in December 2022 for “deception”, then in 2024 for “aggravated deception”, a similar procedure already targeting the German pharmaceutical group Merck. After confirmation of these indictments, the agency as the laboratory made a cassation appeal.
This saga dates back to 2017, when Merck put a new Levothyrox formula on the French market, used daily by more than two million patients. If the active ingredient – levothyroxine – remained unchanged, the excipients had been modified.
Very quickly, more than 30,000 patients complained about side effects (headache, insomnia, dizziness, etc.). Faced with this wave, the ANSM and the health authorities first rejected the idea of a direct link with the new formula, before concluding that this change had not caused “serious” health problems.
These differences of interpretation fueled a lasting distrust and triggered the legal battle. Today, the maintenance of euthyrox until 2028 offers a respite, but does not close the wound: the case continues to play both in courts and in medical offices, between distrust, anger and search for therapeutic stability.