Laurence Dollimore
THE Olive Press is today relaunching our ‘Kill the Drug’ campaign in a bid to bring in tougher regulations on Nolotil.
Our original campaign in 2017 helped highlight the dangers of the lethal painkiller, which has been blamed for dozens – and potentially hundreds – of deaths of tourists and expats in Spain.
Incredibly, the drug is still being freely administered in Spain despite being BANNED in 40 countries globally, including the UK, US, Ireland and Australia.
Our hard-hitting campaign launched in early 2017 came after a spate of British and Irish deaths around Spain.
Following a dogged investigation with over a dozen stories, a year-and-a-half later the campaign appeared victorious when in December 2018, the authorities finally acted.
In a landmark ruling, the authorities brought in nationwide ‘guidance’ for health centres, hospitals and pharmacies across the country.
These stated that Nolotil – a form of metamizole – must only be used by patients for short periods of time, and they should be monitored and have blood tests to detect any severe reaction.
The drug should also NOT be given to tourists and others who would not have access to such controls and monitoring.
It must also be available by prescription only and on a case-by-case basis, with a patient’s medical history and risk factors taken into consideration.
However, despite the guidance, it seems multiple health centres and even state hospitals across the country have continued to ignore them.
So far, only the region of Catalunya has brought in official laws to monitor the drug.
This has resulted in the deaths and terrifying near-deaths of multiple British and other northern European patients.
As we reported this week, Mark Brooks, 42, lost his life to sepsis after being given Nolotil for a minor golf injury in Alicante.
The otherwise healthy father-of-one, who was due to marry this year, died after slipping into a coma just days after the drug was given to him.
Today another victim, Doreen Hughes, 78, told us how she nearly died in 2022 when all her organs failed after taking the drug following knee surgery.
Another, Adam Neale had three days battling the symptoms of the drug after a skiing injury in Granada four years ago.
We have since been contacted by a string of other Brits who have been given the drug and were brought to the brink of death.
We expect a deluge of Irish, Scandinavian and other nationalities to reach out to us about the plight of their loved ones.
We are now calling on the major health providers in Spain to sign our pledge, promising to enforce the 2018 guidance and ensure no other Brit loses their life due to negligence.
Back in 2017 many were quick to join our campaign and over 1,000 people signed a petition.
So if YOU are a foreigner living in Spain who was given Nolotil after 2018, we want to hear from you.
And if you are a care provider in Spain who has strictly followed the Nolotil guidelines, or plan to do so going forward, we also want to hear from you.
We will regularly update our readers on which doctors, pharmacies, health centres and hospitals have signed up to our pledge.
Together, the Olive Press is sure we can Kill the Drug for tourists and expats.
Anyone who wishes to contact us regarding Nolotil should email tips@theolivepress.es
