MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Buenos Aires children's hospital receives first batch of medicinal cannabis for patients with epilepsy

Argentine health authorities have delivered the first batch of medical cannabis for pediatric patients with epilepsy at the Buenos Aires National Children's Garrahan Hospital.

The drugs were intended for 14 boys with epilepsy, for which this drug is said to have shown improvements in the quality of life in more than 80% of the cases, with a reduction in the number of seizures by 60%.

According to a Health Ministry statement, this delivery was a part of Law 27,350, passed in 2017 and fully regulated in November 2020. It aims to ensure safe access to cannabis derivatives with medicinal, therapeutic and palliative purposes.

“We are delivering for the first time a derivative of nationally produced cannabis,” said Sandra Tirado, Secretary of Access to Health, during the delivery of 35 ml bottles of oral solution that will benefit “patients who are currently undergoing treatment. with this product.”

The authorities also highlighted that this delivery guarantees access to pharmaceutical grade cannabis oil, purified and highly concentrated, for the treatment of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, with seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, the syndrome of Dravet and in epilepsy related to Tuberous Sclerosis.

Medicinal Cannabis Program Coordinator Marcelo Morante pointed out that “the quality of a standardized product in a pathology that really conditions the quality of life of our families, accompanied by a doctor or by a hospital of reference in refractory epilepsy is the path that will lead us to the improvement of this disabling pathology.”

Hospital Garrahan Chief Neurologist Roberto Caravallo explained that this substance was intended for ”children who have frequent or daily seizures, some of them severe,“ thereby ensuring that the use of this drug will allow ”a better quality of life for the child and their familiy.”

The use of medical cannabis showed levels of improvement in more than 80% of the cases studied and a reduction in the number of seizures to 60%, which showed progress in cognitive, behavioral and motor aspects.

The bottles of 35 milliliters of oral solution that make up this first batch will be distributed to meet the demands of 14 patients who treat their conditions in the hospital, marking a clear advance regarding access to cannabinoid therapy.

The National Program for the Study and Research of the Medicinal Use of the Cannabis Plant and its Derivatives and Non-Conventional Treatments - known as the Medicinal Cannabis Program - was created in 2017, by law 27,350, for the medicinal use of the cannabis plant and its derivatives.