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Undue regulatory control on phenobarbital—an important yet overlooked reason for the epilepsy treatment gap
Author(s) -
Bhalla Devender,
Aziz Hasan,
Bergen Donna,
Birbeck Gretchen L.,
Carpio Arturo,
Cavalheiro Esper,
Chivorakoun Phetvongsinh,
Helen Cross J.,
Houinato Dismand,
Newton Charles R.,
Odermatt Peter,
Ravat Sangeeta,
Schmutzhard Erich,
Preux PierreMarie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/epi.12929
Subject(s) - phenobarbital , epilepsy , medicine , undue influence , control (management) , neuroscience , psychiatry , psychology , political science , pharmacology , economics , law , management
International audienceEpilepsy is a major chronic noncommunicable neurologic disorder. Although a simple, safe, efficacious, and low-cost treatment has been available for nearly 100 years, the treatment gap remains disturbingly high in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).[1] Treatment gap is generally defined as a “difference between the number of people with active epilepsy and the number being appropriately treated.” There are many reasons for this treatment gap; one important reason is an overly restrictive regulation on barbiturates such as phenobarbital (PB). These restrictive regulations deserve a wider and open discussion, even though epileptologists and others are intensely engaged on reducing the epilepsy treatment gap. With this article, we provide our viewpoint with an aim of raising an extremely important issue: undue regulatory restriction on phenobarbital, an essential lifesaving antiepileptic drug (AED)