Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review: Sodium Valproate Debate
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Lord Bates
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Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review: Sodium Valproate
Lord Bates Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Bethell (Con)
The noble Lord puts it extremely well and I totally agree with the thrust of his point. For patients to have the right information about the risks of the medicines that they are prescribed is essential. However, if I may stray into a different subject, there is also patient choice. For many patients, sodium valproate provides an incredibly valuable relief from epilepsy and mental illness. It is a drug that continues to be prescribed because some have no choice and there is no valid alternative to the drug. The number of people being newly prescribed the drug—new starters—is down dramatically from previous years, but for some it really is an important part of their therapy. The decisions that they make are personal ones, and we should respect those.
The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)
With apologies to the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, the time allowed for this Question has now elapsed.