{"id":7015,"date":"2016-11-30T17:28:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T17:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=5496"},"modified":"2016-11-30T17:28:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T17:28:53","slug":"ireland-medicinal-cannabis-offers-a-new-horizon-for-treatment-of-epilepsy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/ireland-medicinal-cannabis-offers-a-new-horizon-for-treatment-of-epilepsy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland: Medicinal Cannabis Offers \u2018A New Horizon\u2019 For Treatment Of Epilepsy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/ireland-medicinal-cannabis-offers-a-new-horizon-for-treatment-of-epilepsy\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has been asked by Mr Harris to provide an expert opinion on medicinal cannabis and any policy and legislative changes needed.<\/p>\n<p>HPRA chief executive Lorraine Nolan told an Oireachtas Committee on Health that a group of medical experts would be assisting the authority.<\/p>\n<p>Working in the area of controlled drugs since 2001, she said the views of patients also needed to be included.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe timeline that we have been given on this by the minister is tight &#8211; we have been given until the end of January to work on this,\u201d said Ms Nolan.<\/p>\n<p>She stressed, however, that a review was necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is really to protect patient safety the best way possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Vera Twomey whose daughter, Ava, suffers from an extremely rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, appealed to Mr Harris during the summer to take action on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Twomey, of Aghabullogue, Co Cork, has been using cannabis oil to treat Ava, who suffers multiple seizures. She has already seen a major improvement.<\/p>\n<p>She told the committee she just wanted to do everything she could for her dangerously ill six-year-old daughter. They had run out of treatment options and would rather be in a position where a doctor could prescribe the cannabis product for Ava.<\/p>\n<p>Consultant neurologist at St James\u2019s Hospital, Dublin, Colin Doherty said the use of marijuana to treat epilepsy offered \u201ca tantalising new horizon\u201d for severe disabling seizures. He said initial studies were encouraging but not definitive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlready it is possible to state with confidence that this drug will not work for everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will cause intolerable, but probably not dangerous, side effects in a few; but for those for who it will work it may be life-saving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said only 10 countries in the world had legalised cannabis for medicinal use and only one country, Australia, had a proper national framework for prescribing it for children with epilepsy.<\/p>\n<p>He said an important issue that needed to be addressed was the drug\u2019s cost. There was a process that had to be gone through to get a drug listed on a long-term illness scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Doherty said about 15,000 of the 40,000 people in Ireland with epilepsy were not in full control of the condition. Several thousand have very severe epilepsy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany have reached the end of the line, just like Vera\u2019s daughter,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have tried everything, maybe 10 to 12 different types of drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, he said there must be \u201cclear scientific evidence\u201d that cannabis-based drugs worked.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/ireland-medicinal-cannabis-offers-a-new-horizon-for-treatment-of-epilepsy.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"> <\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Katelyn Baker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/ireland\/medicinal-cannabis-offers-a-new-horizon-for-treatment-of-epilepsy-432273.html\" target=\"_blank\">Medicinal Cannabis Offers \u2018A New Horizon\u2019 For Treatment Of Epilepsy<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Evelyn Ring<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"mailto:news@examiner.ie\">news@examiner.ie<\/a> <br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Irish Examiner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has been asked by Mr Harris to provide an expert opinion on medicinal cannabis&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2016\/11\/ireland-medicinal-cannabis-offers-new-horizon-treatment-epilepsy\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}