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US experts back marijuana-based drug for child seizures
AP via KCRA (Sacramento) ^ | April 19th, 2018 | Unattributed

Posted on 04/19/2018 6:06:40 PM PDT by Mariner

WASHINGTON (AP) —

A medicine made from the marijuana plant moved one step closer to U.S. approval Thursday after federal health advisers endorsed it for the treatment of severe seizures in children with epilepsy.

If the Food and Drug Administration follows the group's recommendation, GW Pharmaceuticals' syrup would become the first drug derived from the cannabis plant to win federal approval in the U.S.

The 13-member FDA panel voted unanimously in favor of the experimental medication made from a chemical found in cannabis - one that does not get users high. The panelists backed the drug based on three studies showing that it significantly reduced seizures in children with two rare forms of childhood epilepsy.

"This is clearly a breakthrough drug for an awful disease," said panel member Dr. John Mendelson, of the Friends Research Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

The drug carries a potential risk of liver damage, but panelists said doctors could monitor patients for any signs. More common side effects included diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and sleep problems.

FDA regulators are due to make their decision by late June. Approval would technically limit the drug, called Epidiolex, to patients with hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy. But doctors would have the option to prescribe it for other uses and it could spur new pharmaceutical research and interest into other cannabis-based products.

(Excerpt) Read more at kcra.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cannabis; epilepsy; marijuana; medpot; pot; wod
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To: luckystarmom

That’s great.. i mean really great,if you can live without your liver.. I have watched dozens of patients suffer liver injury. It is truly as bad as cancer..
it’s likely though your child’s other meds were liver killers too.
The current generation of kids who are almost born on meds will be a terrible and grievous thing to watch if their livers can’t recover.
I see more people a third my age with serious illness and allergies.. it can’t be natural too many and too quickly... it is induced straight from the the rx pad.


21 posted on 04/20/2018 3:13:09 AM PDT by momincombatboots (No Wall, No Way 2018)
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To: 1_Inch_Group

Yes. There have been other families as well. How anybody can look at that and say those kids shouldn’t be allowed to take CBD oil is beyond me.


22 posted on 04/20/2018 7:13:21 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Mariner

So many herbs can be used to control medical conditions. Aspirin is just a compounded form of willow bark. Why should the herb cannabis be any different? We use several actual herbs including CBD oil for various conditions here, and they work.


23 posted on 04/20/2018 7:17:44 AM PDT by Yaelle
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To: momincombatboots

Seizures are life threatening immediately, so you have to take the risk of liver damage. Hopefully, there will be a better cure one day. Scariest thing of my life was when my daughter had her grand Mal. She stopped breathing and had turned blue. I thought she had died. We were lucky and found a medication that worked. So far, my daughters liver is OK.

I can’t imagine going through that every day.


24 posted on 04/20/2018 7:22:48 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: Wolfie

Yep. The meds for seizures are terrible too, and CBS oils don’t have the side effects like the other meds.


25 posted on 04/20/2018 7:31:23 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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