Fear of new thalidomide scandal at epilepsy drug for mums-to-be

THE NHS is facing a thalidomide-style scandal over doctors prescribing an epilepsy drug to pregnant women that is known to cause birth defects, it was claimed last night.

Sodium valproate was hailed as a breakthrough drug for epileptics as it helped control fits and seizures, but reports began to surface in the 1980s of babies with abnormalities being born to mothers who took the medicine during pregnancy.

Two years ago, a report criticised the failure of doctors to inform women about the dangers of the drug and said they were still not telling women the full story when prescribing.

According to The Sunday Times, the controversial drug is still being given out by the NHS, in blank packaging without instructions or warning labels.

The latest figures, published in March, show the drug was given to 247 pregnant women between April 2018 and September 2021. Around six foetuses are exposed to the drug every month.

Campaigners fear the drug could pose the same deadly risk as thalidomide, the medicine prescribed for morning sickness in pregnant women that killed 100,000 babies and left 10,000 severely disabled by the time it was withdrawn in 1961. Last night, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for a ban on doctors prescribing the tablets to pregnant women and demanded those affected be compensated. He told the paper: ‘It beggars belief that after so many warnings this still hasn’t been sorted.’

An NHS England spokesman told the newspaper it had established an expert group to help reduce sodium valproate’s use by women who can get pregnant by 50 per cent next year.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said patient safety was a ‘priority’, adding: ‘We take all reports and inquiries on this matter extremely seriously.’