30 Sep 2019

11,000 affected by epilepsy drug switch

From Morning Report, 8:22 am on 30 September 2019

11,000 people are affected by a decision by the drug buyer Pharmac to change epilepsy medication brands. It's a move which was designed to save the organisation money - but the switch has left some people experiencing seizures again and being stood-down from driving. We speak to Arabella Gubay, whose four year old daughter Mathilda used to have up to 20 seizures a day but now rarely experiences them - her doctor recommended against switching brands despite what Pharmac says.