According to information from the Early Randomized Surgical Epilepsy Trial (ERSET), early surgery may be a more beneficial alternative to drugs like Topamax for controlling seizures and helping to improve the patient’s quality of life. This is especially true for patients who prove to be resistant to drugs.

The research team who conducted this study noted in a new report that “despite reported success, surgery for pharmacoresistant seizures is often seen as a last resort. Patients are typically referred for surgery after 20 years of seizures, often too late to avoid significant disability and premature death.”

This study was published in the March 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study’s first author, Jerome Engel Jr., MD, PhD, from the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, stated to Medscape Medical News that surgery “should be considered early to avoid irreversible disabling social and psychological consequences of recurrent seizures. All patients with refractory epilepsy should be referred to an epilepsy center to determine if they might be surgical candidates, and for additional advanced diagnostic and therapeutic support if they are not.”

When patients prove to be resistant to prescription medications like Topamax, preventing seizures can be very difficult and severely lower their quality of life. This new study’s results can prove to be very significant in helping to change that. Topamax is an epilepsy drug that is also used to treat migraines. Like all medications, Topamax comes with its own list of serious side effects, which include birth defects in babies exposed to Topamax in-utero. Some of those birth defects linked to Topamax include PPHN, oral clefts, neural tube defects and heat, lung and brain defects.

If your baby was born with any of these birth defects after being exposed to Topamax during gestation, contact 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 baby’s injuries.