Created by Associazione Italiana Favismo Deficit di G6PD onlus – now administered by volunteers

Drugs that should be avoided - Official List

[ Drug names in red are of high risk to all deficiency types. ]

NameMolecular Formula Risk Level
(note)
For WhomNotes
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 131 items in 9 pages
126 2-Naphthol C10H8O High All
1 Acetanilide (acetanilid) C8 H9 N O High Medit., Asian
101 Acetazolamide C4H6N4O3S2 Medium All
2 Acetylphenylhydrazine (2-Phynylacetohydrazide) C8 H10 N2 O High All Note
3 Aldesulfone sodium (sulfoxone) C14 H14 N2 Na2 O6 S3 High All
4 Aminophenazone (aminopyrine) C13 H17 N3 O Medium All
5 Antazoline (antistine) C17 H19 N3 Medium All
78 Arginine (2-Amino-5-guanidinopentanoic acid) C6H14N4O2 Medium All
6 Arsine As-H3 High All Note
100 Ascorbic Acid C6H8O6 High All
122 Bean of St.Ignatius (Strychnos ignatii)   Medium All
119 Benorilate C17H15NO5 Medium All
8 Beta-Naphthol (2-Naphthol) C10 H8 O High All
81 Brinzolamide   High All Note
93 Bupivacaine C18H28N2O High All

Miscellaneous elements besides drugs that should be avoided:

Fava Beans
(Some, but only some, prefer also to avoid red wine, henna (see below), all legumes, blueberries [also yogurts containing these], soya products, tonic water: whether you should avoid any of these would depend on your enzyme deficit level and mutation.)

Black Henna (Indigofera tinctoria), Red Egyptian Henna (Lawsonia inermis) and other related dyes, used for both tattoos and hair dyes. Ann Trop in Pediatr 16: 287, 1996 and Kök AN, Ertekin MV, Ertekin V, Avci B. in Int J Clin Pract 58: 530, 2004) have shown that henna might trigger in G6PD deficient persons hemolytic crisis or at least an excessive hemolysis.
In vitro experiments suggest that the substance responsible for such hemolysis is 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (or lawsone: see Pediatrcis 97:707,1996).
[Information generously offered to the Association by Prof. Lucio Luzzatto, Scientific Director at the Istituto Toscano Tumori, Firenze, Italy; Consultant at the Department of Human Genetics and Division of Hematologic Oncology at the Department of Medicine Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York].

Glaucoma
Please note that the following medications often prescribed to fight glaucoma are contraindicated for persons suffering from G6PD deficiency:
Dorzolamide (trade name, Trusopt), Brinzolamide (Azopt) and Acetazolamide (Diamox pills).
For a detailed list of eye drops or pills that can and cannot be taken by G6PD deficient persons who suffer from glaucoma please see:
http://marineyes.com/glaucoma/medications.html.