New Experimental Drug for Epileptic Seizures

Perampanel, appears to significantly reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, according to first clinical  test.For about one-third of people with epilepsy , the drugs either don''t stop their seizures or the side effects are not tolerable," said study author Jacqueline French, MD, with New York University in New York. French is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology "If this drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration FDA , it will be another tool in our arsenal for combating or reducing seizures in people with difficult to treat epilepsy." The study involved 387 people in the United States and Latin America who had uncontrolled epilepsy and were currently taking one to three other anti-seizure drugs. Participants were assigned to receive either eight or 12 milligrams of perampanel or a placebo pill once daily for 19 weeks in addition to their regular treatment.