Marijuana Plant Extract Reduces Epileptic Seizures by Half
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GW Pharmaceuticals Plc’s cannabidiol, made from the non-psychoactive portion of a marijuana plant, cut by half the seizures suffered by epilepsy patients in an expanded access program that didn’t use a placebo.
The experience of 213 hard-to-treat patients age 2 to 42, including some who were already taking a dozen drugs to fend off seizures, is a promising start for the strawberry-flavored liquid extract, which may be a potent new therapy for the condition, said lead researcher Orrin Devinsky, director of the New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. The findings released Monday are scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting on April 22 in Washington.