Summary: Researchers say a new cannabis derived drug, which is expected to receive full approval from the FDA this week, will be a vital intervention for children with Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Source: UCLA.
Child epilepsy specialist Dr. Shaun Hussain says the drug Epidiolex, which is expected to win full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week, will be a vital intervention for children with severe epilepsy.
“A lot of these kids aren’t in school, they’re not growing up to be independent, so there’s a tremendous unmet need,” said Hussain, a pediatric neurologist and director of the infantile spasms program at UCLA.
Epidiolex is intended for children with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, disorders that can cause tens or hundreds of seizures a day, interfering with normal development. The drug, made by GW Pharmaceuticals, would be the first cannabis-derived medication to win FDA approval.
“This is a moment where we are pivoting from the position that marijuana is only harmful to a position that cannabis actually has some real, therapeutic potential,” said Hussain, who is a member of UCLA’s Cannabis Research Initiative.
Source: Leigh Hopper – UCLA
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[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]UCLA”Cannabis Derived Drug Could Be a Game Changer for Children with Severe Epilepsy.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 25 June 2018.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/epilepsy-cannabis-kids-9437/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]UCLA(2018, June 25). Cannabis Derived Drug Could Be a Game Changer for Children with Severe Epilepsy. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved June 25, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/epilepsy-cannabis-kids-9437/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]UCLA”Cannabis Derived Drug Could Be a Game Changer for Children with Severe Epilepsy.” https://neurosciencenews.com/epilepsy-cannabis-kids-9437/ (accessed June 25, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
