After receiving the president of the association Help for parents of children suffering from anti-convulsant syndrome (a syndrome that develops during pregnancy, when a future mother takes anti-convulsants to control his epilepsy), the Minister of Social Affairs and Health announced that new measures would be taken without delay.
Even today, children are born disabled following exposure to Depakine®, Depakote® or Depamide® during pregnancy, without the mothers having been informed of the risks. Indeed, when they are taken by a pregnant womanthese drugs can cause fetal malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders leading to abnormal nervous and motor systems, forms of autism and behavioral disorders.
The Minister therefore announced that she wanted :
• Improve information for women of childbearing age on the effects of sodium valproate by creating a new explicit pictogram indicating a risk in the event of pregnancy, in addition to the written information now visible on the labels of medicine boxes.
• Provide specific information in prescription assistance software for healthcare professionals.
• Set up an appropriate channel for the diagnosis and care of children suffering from anti-convulsant syndrome by mobilizing the eight reference centers specializing in developmental anomalies and malformation syndromes.
• Monitor cases of malformations and developmental anomalies by setting up a national register, in order to collect cases of malformations linked to valproate and other drugs.
Read also :
Dépakine: the alternatives proposed by the HAS
Depakine, Depakote and Micropamide: 450 cases of congenital malformations
