New Seizure Medication Receives FDA Nod

The US Food and Drug Administration confirmed that it has approved Sunovion Pharmaceuticals' Aptiom drug for treating people who are suffering from seizures associated with epilepsy.

The FDA said that the drug has been approved for treating 'partial seizures', usually seen in epilepsy patients, after results of three clinical trials showed it to be effective in reducing frequency of seizures among epilepsy patients.

The drug though has the same side-effects as other anti-seizure drugs, with symptoms ranging from headache, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, double-vision, vomiting, and fatigue, while it was also found to increase suicidal thoughts among a small number of patients.

"Some patients with epilepsy do not achieve satisfactory seizure control from existing treatments. It is important we continue to make new treatment options available to patients", Dr Eric Bastings from FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said.

Source: Medindia