Zopiclone, Stilnox, Mogadon: Why will sleeping boxes now contain fewer tablets? The National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) changes the game to stop a use deemed too long and risky, especially among women, seniors and precarious audiences.
Zopiclone, zolpidem, nitrazepam: why the boxes will change
It will soon be possible to obtain large sleeping boxes such as the Stilnox, Imovane or Mogadon. The ANSM asked laboratories to offer only smaller packaging, between 5 and 7 tablets. A new public health measure, announced in an official press release published in June 2025, which aims to limit the risks ofundesirable and dependence effects linked to these very prescribed drugs in France.
© ANSM
Medicines and me – Focus benzodiazepines
These treatments based on benzodiazepines and related, commonly used against severe insomnia, should however be taken only on short durations. ANSM recalls that the recommended duration is “from a few days to three weeks maximum “a limit regularly exceeded in practices. To remedy this, the agency announced that “To decrease the number of tablets in the boxes is to reduce the risk of prolonged use and therefore that of depth “.
Patients too exposed and France in overconsumption
This is not the first time that the ANSM has sounded the alarm. In France, the consumption of benzodiazepines is higher than in most European countries. And certain categories of the population are particularly exposed: according to data relayed within the framework of the previous campaign of the ANSM on the subject, Women, the elderly as well as people in precarious situations are the first consumers.
However, the dangers are not trivial. The prolonged use of these molecules increases “The risk of undesirable effects such as memory disorders, falls or even physical and mental dependence “alerts the ANSM. The higher the dose, the greater the duration, the more the risk grows. A concern all the greater as some patients combine several psychotropic treatments over months or even years.
In the viewfinder of the authorities: three molecules well known to the French, all concerned by this reform:
- Zopiclone (Imovane and generics)
- Zolpidem (Stilnox and generics)
- Nitrazepam (Mogadon)
Alternative solutions to explore
Faced with this overconsumption, reducing the number of tablets is only a first step. “”These drugs should be taken at the lowest effective dose and for the shortest possible treatment as possible with regard to the particular risks of these drugs “insists the ANSM. But in parallel, non -drug alternatives gain ground, such as Cognitivo-behavioral therapies (TCC) specific to insomnia, recommended in first intention by the High Authority for Health.
Certain natural approaches, although less scientifically documented, also attract more and more: meditation, phytotherapy, breathing exercises or restriction of the time spent in bed are all tracks to consider under medical support. For prescribers and patients, the current reform is an opportunity to open a new reflection on our relationship to sleep … and the evening pill.
(Factual) Sleepers: fewer tablets in the boxes of Stilnox, Imovane and Mogadon
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