Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The discussion in Iowa about medical marijuana is growing on several fronts. The governor's saying he's open to allowing families who struggle with epilepsy to travel to neighboring Illinois to obtain cannabis oil, possession of which he legalized last year. Senate democrats will move legislation this year to allow for production and distribution here. And now, there is scientific testing being done in the Corridor to determine the oil's actual effectiveness.
"It will be a multi-center, multi-national scientific study," explains Doctor Charuta Joshi, the principal researcher in a clinical trial at the University of Iowa; a study sponsored by British-based GW Pharmaceuticals and approved by the FDA.
The focus is a drug called Epidiolex which is almost pure CBD. CBD is the cannabis extract that has show so much promise among patients with intractable epilepsy across the country.
"These children are seeing incredible results," insists Maria La France of Des Moines. "Not just in reduction of seizures but they're talking more. They're sharper. They're clearer. They're able to come off their other medications."
That's something La France wants for her child who had his first seizure at five months old. Now thirteen, Quincy has been on thirty different medications and is totally dependent on his desperate family.
His exasperated mother says, "We've just tried anything. Right now he's on a seizure medication that's not even really allowed. It's for dogs. So we've run out of things to try."
La France and a few other parents like Tina McDermott of Davenport, begged Doctor Joshi for help so the pediatric neurologist filed a mountain of paperwork to get federal approval for the UI to be a research site.
"When we go in (Dr. Joshi) thanks me every time that, you know, we brought her the information and made sure she got the information," says McDermott.
Her son, Ryan, like Quincy, suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy that's the focus of this study. At eight years old, Ryan still can't walk or talk. "Do I blame that on the syndrome itself," asks McDermott, "Or do I blame it on all the 13, 14 meds that he's been on since he was two months old?"
Ryan and Quincy are two of the roughly ten patients who will participate in the twelve week study and they'll be monitored very closely. Some will take Epidiolex, some a placebo. Dr. Joshi explains, "Given the very nature of the study, meaning that it is double-blind, I actually don't know what the patient is getting. I cannot tell by looking at it, sniffing it, that it is any different from the real medicine or the real study material."
Maneuvering through a maze of regulatory hurdles, Joshi already has been able to prescribe CBD to a small number of critical patients on a compassionate basis but does not want to bias this study talking about the details, other than to say, "My patients did very well."
"They are becoming one of the leaders in epilepsy research nationwide." says Dale Todd of the Iowa Epilepsy Foundation. "Many of the medications that my son is on and other children are on are a lot more stronger and have, by far, more side effects than anything that we're studying down there at the University of Iowa."
Offering even more hope for Ryan and Quincy is the potential that after this study is completed, they can use Epidiolex for several years or up until the time the FDA approves it as medicine for their specific condition. "There have been reported zero negative side effects, only positive. So that's what's exciting about for me to be able to try it," exclaims a hopeful La France. McDermott concurs. "I'm going in hoping that this works for Ryan because right now, like I said, there's not even anything here for us yet."
The clinical trial starts in March and it's actually Part 'B' of the study. Part 'A' already screened patients who suffer fewer than four seizures per month to make sure CBD is safe. All the results will be aggregated, analyzed and published. Then the process begins to obtain FDA approval. Dr. Joshi believes this entire process will take several years.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana: Stories of Hope - KGAN-TV CBS 2 Iowa - Top Stories
Author: Web Staff
Contact: news@cbs2iowa.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: KGAN-TV CBS 2 Iowa - HOME
"It will be a multi-center, multi-national scientific study," explains Doctor Charuta Joshi, the principal researcher in a clinical trial at the University of Iowa; a study sponsored by British-based GW Pharmaceuticals and approved by the FDA.
The focus is a drug called Epidiolex which is almost pure CBD. CBD is the cannabis extract that has show so much promise among patients with intractable epilepsy across the country.
"These children are seeing incredible results," insists Maria La France of Des Moines. "Not just in reduction of seizures but they're talking more. They're sharper. They're clearer. They're able to come off their other medications."
That's something La France wants for her child who had his first seizure at five months old. Now thirteen, Quincy has been on thirty different medications and is totally dependent on his desperate family.
His exasperated mother says, "We've just tried anything. Right now he's on a seizure medication that's not even really allowed. It's for dogs. So we've run out of things to try."
La France and a few other parents like Tina McDermott of Davenport, begged Doctor Joshi for help so the pediatric neurologist filed a mountain of paperwork to get federal approval for the UI to be a research site.
"When we go in (Dr. Joshi) thanks me every time that, you know, we brought her the information and made sure she got the information," says McDermott.
Her son, Ryan, like Quincy, suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy that's the focus of this study. At eight years old, Ryan still can't walk or talk. "Do I blame that on the syndrome itself," asks McDermott, "Or do I blame it on all the 13, 14 meds that he's been on since he was two months old?"
Ryan and Quincy are two of the roughly ten patients who will participate in the twelve week study and they'll be monitored very closely. Some will take Epidiolex, some a placebo. Dr. Joshi explains, "Given the very nature of the study, meaning that it is double-blind, I actually don't know what the patient is getting. I cannot tell by looking at it, sniffing it, that it is any different from the real medicine or the real study material."
Maneuvering through a maze of regulatory hurdles, Joshi already has been able to prescribe CBD to a small number of critical patients on a compassionate basis but does not want to bias this study talking about the details, other than to say, "My patients did very well."
"They are becoming one of the leaders in epilepsy research nationwide." says Dale Todd of the Iowa Epilepsy Foundation. "Many of the medications that my son is on and other children are on are a lot more stronger and have, by far, more side effects than anything that we're studying down there at the University of Iowa."
Offering even more hope for Ryan and Quincy is the potential that after this study is completed, they can use Epidiolex for several years or up until the time the FDA approves it as medicine for their specific condition. "There have been reported zero negative side effects, only positive. So that's what's exciting about for me to be able to try it," exclaims a hopeful La France. McDermott concurs. "I'm going in hoping that this works for Ryan because right now, like I said, there's not even anything here for us yet."
The clinical trial starts in March and it's actually Part 'B' of the study. Part 'A' already screened patients who suffer fewer than four seizures per month to make sure CBD is safe. All the results will be aggregated, analyzed and published. Then the process begins to obtain FDA approval. Dr. Joshi believes this entire process will take several years.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana: Stories of Hope - KGAN-TV CBS 2 Iowa - Top Stories
Author: Web Staff
Contact: news@cbs2iowa.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: KGAN-TV CBS 2 Iowa - HOME
