Billy Caldwell Marks 21st Birthday After Cannabis Medicine Ends 3 Years of Seizures
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 17
Billy Caldwell Marks 21st Birthday After Cannabis Medicine Ends 3 Years of Seizures
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 17
Summary
Billy Caldwell, 21, has now gone three years without a seizure after cannabis-based medicine controlled epilepsy that once caused 300 to 800 attacks a day.
Earlier drug combinations failed to stop his life-threatening condition, his mother Charlotte said, while the cannabis prescription improved his balance, walking and social interaction as well as ending seizures.
Billy's case became a flashpoint in the UK medical cannabis debate after his cannabis oil was seized at Heathrow, helping drive a 2018 law change allowing specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-derived medicines in some cases.
Charlotte Caldwell says access still largely depends on private prescriptions costing £400 to £1,000 a month, leaving many chronically ill patients unable to afford treatment even though it is legal.