Bad medicine: epilepsy

摘要

Money is the great motivator. The anti-convulsant drug phenytoin was recently replaced by a generic drug, in exploitation of a loophole in UK policy and increasing the cost to the NHS by 40m. Epilepsy is profitable, with lifelong multiple medication, so a huge range of putatively new drugs have been developed to seek a slice of the profits. They are all pitched at the same price, in the drug industry's traditionally sham competition. Anticonvul-sants have an additional big business bonus, too. The industry has been fined billions for promoting anticon-vulsants off licence in pain and psychiatry specialties.