UAB Study Finds CBD Oil Helps Epilepsy Patients
Researchers at UAB published a study this month that offers hope to those dealing with severe epilepsy. It found cannabidiol, or CBD oil, helps curb seizures. The substance is derived from marijuana, minus the hallucinogenic properties. The study was conducted under a 2014 Alabama law known as “Carly’s Law,” which authorized UAB to research CBD oil.
The study found CBD oil reduced the frequency of seizures by about two-thirds. It also reduced the severity of seizures. Study participants had fewer side effects when looking at their medications overall.
“We don’t know whether this is an effect of cannabidiol or whether this is the effect of slightly decreasing other medications or if there is something else, but it’s a very significant finding,” said Dr. Jerzy Szaflarski, director of UAB’s Epilepsy Center.
Advocates, particularly parents of children with severe epilepsy, have contended CBD oil helps with seizures. Szaflarski says a growing body of research like the UAB study backs that up.
The drug used in the study is called Epidiolex and in July the Food and Drug Administration approved it for two rare types of epilepsy. It’s the first CBD-based drug approved by federal regulators. Robert Speth, pharmaceutical sciences professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, says that represents a slight softening in attitude by the feds toward marijuana, although there are still tight restrictions on medical research of marijuana.
“You have to keep it in a locked safe. You have to have two layers of security,” Speth says. “It makes it very cumbersome.”
Epidiolex could hit the market next year and with a big price tag – $32,500 a year. Patients won’t necessarily pay that amount as insurers could shoulder some of that cost. A spokeswoman for Alabama’s largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, says they’ll review the drug’s effectiveness and safety before deciding whether to cover it.
Alabama carries out nation’s 3rd nitrogen gas execution
An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas.
Trump names former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his new pick for U.S. attorney general
After former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration, President-elect Donald Trump named Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his next pick for U.S. attorney general.
Police report gives details, timeline of the sexual assault claim against Pete Hegseth
The woman who accused then-Fox News host of sexual assault in 2017 said that she "remembered saying 'no' a lot," according to a police report. Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.
Alabama Black Belt’s sewer crisis a tougher fix for residents in manufactured homes
Poor sanitation has long plagued residents in Alabama’s Black Belt. For people with manufactured houses, finding a solution has been more challenging.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
What is the ICC and can it really arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?
The ICC also issued warrants for Yoav Gallant, former Israeli defense minister, and Hamas leader Muhammad Deif. But it doesn't have an enforcement mechanism and relies on states to make the arrests.
