Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title MHRA to look into cases of unsafe epilepsy drug being given to pregnant women Media name/outlet The Guardian Media type Web Country/Territory United Kingdom Date 17/04/22 Description Dr Rebecca Bromley, a research fellow and paediatric neuropsychologist at the University of Manchester, told the Guardian that babies exposed to sodium valproate were not only at a higher risk of birth defects but also cognitive and social difficulties.
She said: “The higher the dose of the medication, the higher the risk to the child. However, even at more modest doses we can see poorer intellectual and social difficulties.”
It had taken longer for the latter to be investigated, she added, despite the large impact on daily life – including challenges with reasoning, attention learning and language skills.
Bromley added that the response to support affected individuals had moved too slowly, and that many families struggled to obtain a diagnosis for their child or appropriate educational support.URL https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/17/sodium-valproate-mhra-to-look-into-cases-of-unsafe-epilepsy-drug-being-given-to-pregnant-women Persons Rebecca Bromley
Keywords
- epilepsy
- pregnancy
- Sodium valproate