OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the opinion of the French population on the publication of a list of 77 medicines under regulatory monitoring  (surveillance list, published following market withdrawal of diet adjuvant benfluorex) in France and more specifically evaluate its impact on consumer behaviour. METHODS: A total of 928 French individuals answered a phone questionnaire consisting of 37 closed questions and 3 open-ended questions. Respondents were aged 30 and over since this age group is expected to be more prone to diseases and chronic pathologies. The study, carried out in March 2011, was compliant with the French National INSEE quota methodology. RESULTS: Around 7% of the sample population declared using at least one of the products included in the French surveillance list. Of these, over one in three persons indicated their intention to stop or suspend their treatment in reaction to their medicine’s regulatory surveillance while one in three persons did not intend to change their treatment intake. Meanwhile, in the larger study sample, nearly one in six persons declared considering reducing their medicine purchasing patterns as a result of the surveillance list publication, a figure in line with studies conducted prior to the publication of the list. Finally, treatment compliance was reported at 85.8% pre-surveillance list publication and 83.5% post-surveillance list publication. CONCLUSIONS: French consumer confidence in pharmaceuticals in general is mostly unaffected by the new surveillance list. However, consumer behaviour is strongly affected by product inclusion onto the surveillance list, especially for those patients treated with at least one listed treatment. Furthermore, consumer confidence in healthcare regulators, off-label prescribing and pharmaceutical companies was negatively affected by the benfluorex case. Prescribers will have a pivotal role in maintaining overall confidence through patient communication and information.