Epilepsy medicine worry

Brighton massage therapist Jemima Pedro-Davison says a recent Pharmac decision to swap her proven...
Brighton massage therapist Jemima Pedro-Davison says a recent Pharmac decision to swap her proven effective epilepsy drug Lamictal for a generic substitute could have lethal consequences. PHOTO: RICHARD DAVISON.
A controversial change of epilepsy drug funding could see her and thousands of other people with epilepsy lose their quality of life and livelihoods, Brighton massage therapist Jemima Pedro-Davison fears.

Government drug-buying agency Pharmac recently opted to change its funding from a range of lamotrigine epilepsy medications to just a single brand, Logem.

About 45,000 New Zealanders have epilepsy, and their national organisation Epilepsy New Zealand is deeply concerned that proven effective drug Lamictal will no longer be funded.

Mrs Pedro-Davison is one of those affected patients.

She said Lamictal had controlled her seizures for many years, to the point where she had been able to gain her driver's licence - a document which would be taken away for a year and not renewed without clearance from a neurologist if she were to have a seizure.

Mrs Pedro-Davison, one of an estimated 3100 people with epilepsy in the southern region, had previously used the sole drug now funded by Pharmac, Logem, and said it had not given the same results as Lamictal.

"I have been on Logem and it was not fabulous, and if I do have an enforced change of medication my chances of having a seizure are quite high.

"I drive, I have my own business, I function at home and at work ... if I have a seizure as a result of a forced change of medication that's it, my life is over."

The key ingredient in both drugs is lamotrigine, but the binding agents in each are different, which changed the way the medication was delivered to the body, Mrs Pedro-Davison said.

She is not alone in her concerns.

Epilepsy New Zealand called for submissions on the issue, and respondents spoke of having been on Lamictal for 10 years or more with no issues, and their fears of what a change of medication might mean.

Complicating the issue is that each person's type of epilepsy is different, so some people may be able to change medication without issue while others will find some drugs ineffective.

The brand change began on May 1 and there is a five-month transition period.

Epilepsy New Zealand representatives met with Pharmac on Friday to discuss their concerns.

Pharmac operations director Lisa Williams said the organisation had met with ENZ before and now after the lamotrigine brand change decision.

"We are continuing with this change," she said.

"Logem has the same active ingredient as the other brands and is delivered to the body in the same way. This means it will have the same effect as the other brands.

"We understand that people might have questions about changing brands, but they should not notice any difference when changing to Logem."

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