The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first therapy to control certain severe epileptic seizures at home instead of in the emergency room.
Athena Neurosciences' Diastat is the first at-home version of the drug diazepam, which emergency rooms administer intravenously. Approval came Thursday.Most of the 2.5 million Americans with epilepsy control their seizures with daily medication. But some suffer breakthrough seizures that are different from the standard epileptic attack. These are a cluster of prolonged, acute seizures that, if not stopped, can lead to a life-threatening brain disorder.
These patients receive diazepam, which goes straight to the bloodstream so it can immediately begin breaking the chain of seizures.
Now the FDA has approved Athena Neurosciences Inc.'s Diastat, a gel form of diazepam that relatives could administer to seizure patients at home.