Sodium valproate latest

Epilepsy Society is calling for safer epilepsy medications in pregnancy in their Safe Mum, Safe Baby campaign.

Report exploring the impacts of some anti-seizure medicines in pregnancy attracts strong support at parliamentary launch

A new report shows that the lifetime costs of harm caused by exposure to epilepsy medications during pregnancy could be as high as £2.5m. That is the cost for one child exposed to high-risk drugs during pregnancy and includes costs to the NHS, education and welfare systems, the affected individual, their family and wider society. The cost to the NHS alone is over half a million.

Sodium valproate is an epilepsy drug prescribed for all seizure types including absence, myoclonus and tonic clonic seizures. New regulations have been introduced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) around the way in which the drug, sodium valproate is prescribed to women and girls of childbearing age. 

Most women with epilepsy do not have any change in their seizure frequency during pregnancy. However you might find that your seizures are better controlled during pregnancy, or that you have more seizures than is usual for you.

If you have just been diagnosed with epilepsy, you may have questions about medication and treatment. 

New prescribing practices for valproate were introduced in December last year, after a safety study suggested there could be risk of harm for babies through paternal exposure pre-conception. Now the drug manufacturer says there are issues with the safety study and that further analysis is necessary.
It is important never to stop taking valproate – or any medication – without consulting your doctor.

Epilepsy Society is launching a new campaign - ‘Safe Mum, Safe Baby’ - calling for safer epilepsy medications in pregnancy.

Nicola Swanborough unpicks the issues around valproate and explains why the risks and benefits of the medication must be properly discussed and evidenced in public, before new prescribing practices potentially put people with epilepsy at risk of seizures

The UK epilepsy organisations listed below are joining together in an urgent call for a decision by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Ministers to be paused immediately.

We have been advised by the medicines regulator – the MHRA – that there are to be some important changes made to the way that valproate is prescribed. This will affect both men and women under the age of 55 and girls of childbearing age. 

MPs, scientists and clinicians today backed Epilepsy Society’s call for the government to stop babies from being born with preventable disabilities, by investing more money into urgent research. 

Two new initiatives have been launched to help ensure that all women with epilepsy, of child-bearing age, are aware of the risks associated with the medication valproate, during pregnancy.

The House of Lords has discussed the need for a redress scheme for mothers and babies harmed by sodium valproate.

An independent safety review into the epilepsy medication, sodium valproate, is now officially open and has put out a 'call for evidence' from those affected by the drug.

Our chief executive Clare Pelham, a member of the Commission on Human Medicines' Sodium Valproate Expert Working Group, commented on the news of the new regulations surrounding sodium valproate.

New measures announced to stop babies being exposed to valproate in the womb
Valproate medicines are available in the UK under brand names such as Epilim, Epival, Episenta, Convulex and Orlept
No girl or woman should stop taking valproate without first consulting her doctor.

Epilepsy Society's chief executive Clare Pelham has praised the Government's decision to announce a forward-looking review that will address the way the healthcare system has handled the concerns of patients in its care and make certain that lessons are learned and history does not repeat itself.

New measures to avoid the exposure of unborn babies to the epilepsy drug sodium valproate have been announced by the safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Epilepsy Society's chief executive Clare Pelham has joined the Sodium Valproate Expert Working Group which supports the Government's Commission on Human Medicines.

Although we could not see them as we watched today's sodium valproate debate via Parliament Live TV, the presence of three women -Janet Williams, Emma Murphy and Deborah Mann - as they sat in the public gallery, was very much felt in the House of Commons.

Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and First Minister of Northern Ireland has pledged her support for Epilepsy Society's campaign to ensure mandatory reviews for all women and girls of childbearing who take sodium valproate.

On 21 September 2017, Epilepsy Society's chief executive, Clare Pelham, wrote to health secretary Jeremy Hunt asking him to introduce mandatory annual reviews for any girl or woman of childbearing age who is taking the epilepsy drug sodium valproate.

Following last month's public hearing into the epilepsy drug sodium valproate, the European Medicines Agency(EMA) has now published a full summary report.