Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board Members Respond to FDA Announcement on AEDs

We at the Epilepsy Foundation feel that the recent announcement linking suicidal thoughts with antiepileptic drugs should not cause anyone to become frightened about taking their medications. Reacting to this FDA warning by abruptly stopping an antiepileptic medication could be very dangerous and is better handled by calling your doctor to discuss any concerns. 

Individuals taking antiepileptic medications can feel reassured by a number of factors. Since depression is very common in epilepsy, we don't know for sure if some individuals had suicidal thoughts that were not in fact caused by the medications. We need to get much more information about how these statistics were derived. Even if medications do raise the risk, this risk is very low. The risk of developing this problem after long-term use of a drug is probably especially low if a person has been feeling fine up until now. 

The Epilepsy Foundation has always supported the idea that health care providers need to spend time looking for and talking about depression with their epilepsy patients. We hope that the main impact of the recent FDA announcement will be to reinforce the value of good communication between patients and their health care providers.

Alan Ettinger, M.D., Vice-Chairman, Department of Neurology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC); Professor of Clinical Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Director, North Shore-LIJ Comprehensive Epilepsy Centers and Chief Division of EEG and Epilepsy, LIJMC. Dr. Ettinger serves on the Quality of Life committee of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board.

Bruce Hermann, Ph.D., Professor of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Hermann is the chair of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board.

Brian Alldredge, PharmD, Professor of Clinical Pharmacy & Neurology; Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Alldredge serves on the Research Council committee of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board.