13 Nov 2019

Three deaths after pharmac switches epilepsy medication

From First Up, 5:50 am on 13 November 2019

'I'm afraid more people will die' That's the concerns of a mother campaigning against Pharmac's epilepsy drug switch - after three deaths that may be linked were reported to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring. About 11,000 people, most with epilepsy but some with mental health conditions, are switching to a generic form of the drug lamotrigine, called Logem. Arabella Guybay's four-year-old has epilepsy and first shared her concerns about the switch during our Life or Death Under Pharmac series. She told First Up's Lydia Batham the latest news has been difficult to take in.