Question reference: S6W-23411
- Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 29 November 2023
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Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of making medicinal cannabis more widely available on the NHS for adults with epilepsy.
Answer
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has accepted a cannabidiol (Epidyolex ® ) for three severe treatment-resistant epilepsies:
- as adjunctive therapy of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome (DS) in conjunction with clobazam, for patients 2 years of age and older
- as adjunctive therapy of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in conjunction with clobazam, for patients 2 years of age and older
- as adjunctive therapy of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) for patients 2 years of age and older
The biggest barrier to the prescribing of other Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) on the NHS is that most products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base for their use.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is currently leading on the design of CBPM clinical trials into epilepsy. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer continues to engage on the progress of these trials, which will be critical in building the evidence for CBPMs.