Stories about medicines
Generic and branded medicines: same or different?
A new US study aims to finally settle the question of whether a generic version of a branded epilepsy medicine is really any different.
The study has been largely funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The administration has previously produced guidelines to make sure that the generic version of a drug is virtually identical to its branded counterpart. These guidelines allow a certain margin of difference, within which a generic drug is supposedly just as effective.
Missing tablets contribute to epilepsy death
An inquest into the death of Sunderland resident Karen MacIntyre in April 2012 found that she died from SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy). Evidence from her family doctor, Dr Majella Soumakiyan, highlighted that Karen had not taken her epilepsy medicine regularly.