More medicinal cannabis for sick children as government allocates $3.7 million per year
Medicinal cannabis will be available to more children under a state-funded program to help kids with severe epilepsy. One 15-year-old girl has told how the treatment stopped her seizures altogether.
VIC News
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Medicinal cannabis will be available to more children under a State Government-funded program to help kids with severe epilepsy.
Ninety eight Victorian children have already been granted access to the cannabis oil treatment and promising results have prompted the government to expand that to 30 more young patients by next year.
The compassionate access scheme was set to cost $3.7 million per year and was aimed at plugging the shortfall for families priced out of being able to afford the treatment — which can cost up to $80,000 per child each year.
There was strong demand for the cannabis treatment from a waiting list of children with severe forms of epilepsy, health minister Jenny Mikakos said today in announcing the rollout.
She said it didn’t work for all children, but added: “For those currently participating in the scheme we are seeing remarkable results.”
Royal Children’s Hospital paediatric neurologist Jeremy Freeman said two thirds of children using medicinal cannabis, together with other epileptic medication, had a “major benefit”, while a small minority stopped having seizures altogether.
One of those was 15-year-old Madison Williamson, who had previously experienced five to seven seizures per day and suffered from dizzy spells and tiredness.
The Point Cook teen started the cannabis treatment in September 2018 and her last recorded seizure was December 2018.
It meant she was able to attend school on a more regular basis and enjoy things such as catching the bus by herself and using her iPad.
Her mother Amanda Williamson said the turnaround had been “amazing” and exceeded expectations.
She said she wanted more children to have the chance to improve as Madison had.
“I wish it was available to everybody. Everyone should have the opportunity to at least try it and see if it works for them. Obviously for us, for our family, it has been life-changing,” she said.
Dr Freeman said his message to parents was that it would not work in all cases.
“It’s not a revolutionary treatment, it’s not a panacea,” he said.
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He said the pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol had side effects such as sleepiness, changes in appetite and weight loss.
Ms Mikakos said as part of the announcement on Sunday the government had manufactured 12kg of purified crystallised cannabidiol for research and clinical trials.
However she said the government was no longer producing its own cannabidiol product from cannabis it had grown.