Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2014
Source: Sunday Mail (Australia)
Copyright: 2014 Queensland Newspapers
Contact: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/editorial/letter
Website: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sundaymail
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/435
Page: 7

CANNABIS HELP SOUGHT FOR THE LOVE OF ANGUS

THERE'S a whiteboard on the kitchen wall in the Tune house with an
important message.

"You are BRAVER than you believe," it starts.

"STRONGER than you seem. SMARTER than you think. And LOVED more than
you'll ever know!"

A photograph is pinned to the bottom. In it, Katrina Tune lies in a
hospital bed. They've wheeled her in to see her little boy, born by
caesarean section only an hour before.

He isn't breathing on his own. It would be days before she'd give him
a name, refusing to do so until they'd removed the breathing tubes so
she could see his face. Those big eyes. The cherub lips. His name was
Angus.In his 23 short months of life, Angus has had 12 hospital
admissions, numerous trips to the emergency department, 17 EEGs and
has been prescribed five different anticonvulsants - some with
terrible side effects.

And while they don't have an official diagnosis, it is likely Angus
has an extremely rare form of epilepsy called Ohtahara syndrome. It is
a serious, life-threatening disorder with seizures that are often
resistant to epilepsy medications.

However, the type of seizures he suffers means Angus would likely
benefit from medical cannabis - a treatment already proving effective
in epileptic children and about to be trialled in NSW.

"From what I have researched about medical cannabis, Angus is a good
candidate and this drug, in my opinion, presents no greater risk to
him than any of the current legal treatment options for his type of
epilepsy," Katrina said.

"If anything, I believe this would be a far safer option for him
without many of the side effects he currently experiences."

Babies with Ohtahara syndrome make very little developmental progress
and often die within a couple of years. One medication Angus took saw
him become void of all emotion.

"He doesn't cry or smile anymore," Katrina said.

She said while she understood the need for legislation governing the
production or importation of medical cannabis, she did not agree with
the debate on its usefulness as a treatment.

"It is a medically accepted treatment in many parts of the world to
control pain for cancer sufferers, spasticity in multiple sclerosis
and epileptic seizures," she said.

"The doubt that is cast over medical cannabis as an accepted treatment
by our doctors only clouds the issue.

"More importantly, it potentially further delays its safe introduction
and provides yet another hurdle - of the general public's opinion -
that patients and carers have to battle."
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MAP posted-by: Matt