Review urged as 40 women report birth defects

Women and girls taking an epilepsy drug that causes birth defects should be automatically reviewed by specialists to see if alternatives can be prescribed, campaigners say.

Epilepsy Ireland said doctors should not start any new child patients on the drug, Epilim, to avoid them having to wean themselves off it and find a replacement in future, when they want to start a family.

Epilim, the brand name in Ireland for sodium valproate, is implicated in 40 cases of birth defects and disabilities, reported to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in recent years. However, campaign groups believe the true number may be 400 over the 43 years that the drug has been used here.