Pressure On FDA To Approved Marijuana-Based Epilepsy Drug For Patients

image:drugabuse.gov

A marijuana-derived epilepsy drug should be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an advisory committee unanimously recommended on Thursday.
If approved in an expected FDA vote in June, Epidiolex would be the first plant-derived cannabidiol medicine for prescription use in the U.S., CNN reported.
The committee recommended that Epidiolex, an oral solution, be approved for treatment of severe, early-onset forms of epilepsy in a small number of patients.


FDA approval would be for this use, but doctors would have the option to prescribe it "off-label" for other uses, CNN reported.
While Epidiolex would be the first plant-derived cannabidiol medicine approved for prescription use in the U.S., there are approved drugs that contain synthetic versions of cannabinoid chemicals found in marijuana.
The advisory committee's recommendation came after members reviewed data from the drug's maker, GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, CNN reported.

Source:webMD