Cannabis-based Medication Approved for First Time
Two cannabis-based medicines have been approved for use by England’s National Health Services (NHS) IFLScience.com reports. This is the first time drugs containing cannabis have been approved for routine use by NHS England by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the nation’s drug-governing body.
NICE has approved the use of Epidyolex to treat two types of epilepsy via an oral solution of cannabidiol (CBD) and Sativex, a mouth spray that contains a mixture of CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to help treat multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers who experience spasms and muscle stiffening.
The two types of seizures Epidyolex has been approved to treat are Lennox-Gastaut (a form of childhood-onset epilepsy) and Dravet (infant epilepsy caused by seizures). While Sativex guidelines allow for it to be prescribed to treat MS sufferers, NICE recommends doctors not prescribe cannabis-medications to chronic pain sufferers.
Read NICE’s full guidelines here.
