Action over epilepsy drug ‘could rival thalidomide’
by LaVonne on 22/05/06 at 10:00 am
Around 140 families who claim that their children were damaged by an epilepsy drug taken in pregnancy have begun a court action that they say could be “as big as thalidomide”.
They say that 37,500 British children have “foetal anti-convulsant syndrome”, a range of neural, behavioural and physical disorders, which they claim may have been caused by their mothers taking anti-convulsant drugs while pregnant.
Disorders include cleft palate and spina bifida, learning difficulties, behavioural problems and abnormalities in movement, speech, vision and hearing.
The court action applies specifically to the drug sodium valproate, which is only one of several anti-convulsant medicines. A trial date has been set for October 2008.
Many of the mothers were prescribed the brand-named product Epilim, made by Sanofi-Synthelabo. The drug was also available in unbranded generic forms. To date Sanofi is the only company involved in the action.
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