Country music performer Stefani Rose helped to raise money for the 2012 Walk to End Epilepsy on October 28 at the Rose Bowl. The performance was in front of more than 2,000 fans and participants in the walk, and raised more than $250,000 for the cause.

That money came just in time to for National Epilepsy Month, which lasts throughout November. Rose’s contribution has helped to bring awareness to the condition that is rarely acknowledged publicly even though millions of people worldwide suffer from the condition. Stefani Rose barely heard of epilepsy until her two-year-old son Nikolas was diagnosed with the condition. Her story is described on http://www.stefanirosemusic.com/epilepsy.php. On the website, Nikolaus is described as “screaming as he wakes up from his latest 27-minute, full-body, tonic colonic seizure — the type called a “grand mal” seizure.”

The website goes on to state that “Nikolas started having seizures when he was six months old, and it took almost a year to get a diagnosis of epilepsy. During that time, Stefani was told that he had infantile spasms (and that) some infants just do that as their nervous system develops.”

Even though 1 in every 4 Americans has epilepsy, there is little help available in terms of finding faster diagnoses and treatments. Most of the time, treatments are conducted through a trial and error method by the doctors, which can be dangerous for the patients. Doctors also have a tendency to misdiagnose epileptics when a patient’s loved ones are relatively uninformed about symptoms that may indicate epilepsy as a potential concern. Improving awareness can help raise funds that researchers desperately need in order to develop faster diagnostic methods and prescription medications.

Current epilepsy treatments include anti-seizure medications, like Topamax, that can have dangerous side effects linked to them. Topamax comes with a warning for pregnant women to avoid using the drug during pregnancy since it has been linked to birth defects in babies whose mothers take Topamax while pregnant. Some of the birth defects linked to Topamax use include oral clefts, PPHN, spina bifida and neural tube defects.

If your baby was born with birth defects after in-utero exposure to Topamax, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.