Francewas on Wednesday facing a health scandal over revelations that 10,000 pregnant women were prescribed an epilepsy drug despite the known risks of it causing incurable birth defects. A British victims' group said the same drug was "very likely" taken by a similar number of pregnant women in the UK over the same period, between 2007 and 2014. The "alarming" figure, published in an official report by France's medicine agency, ANSM, and its national health insurance body, CNAMTS, saw the government accused of being party to a nationwide "cover up" amid warnings that the number of victims could be "huge". Sodium valproate, one of the most effective drugs for controlling epileptic seizures, has long been known to increase babies' risk of cleft palate and spina bifida. But more recent research revealed babies exposed to the drug also run a considerable risk of having mental problems. Some 40 per cent of children born to mothers taking the drug have neuro-developmental disorders such as autism. And 11 per cent are born with physical malformations such as spina bifida and heart and kidney problems. According to a report leaked to Le Canard Enchaîné, the investigative and satirical weekly, more than 10,000 women are estimated to have taken Depakine - the French name for the drug produced by Sanofi - in France between 2007 and 2014, even though the risks of deformation among newborns were long known to be high.
A health scandal is coming to light in France and the UK over revelations that ten of thousands of pregnant women took an epilepsy drug - Epilim - between 2007 and 2014 that resulted in incurable birth defects for their babies. The alarming news was published in an official report by France's medicine agency, ANSM, and national health insurance body, CNAMTS, who accuse the French government of a "cover up" amid warnings the number of those affected was huge. Also known as Depakine, the drug is produced by Sanofi.