‘It’s scary’: Epilepsy patients fear for their lives amid UK medicine supply issues

Epilepsy patients are living with the risk of having “life-threatening” seizures as drug supply problems are forcing some to skip their medication.

There are hundreds of drugs, including those for epilepsy, blood pressure, blood thinning and some cancer medicines, that patients are finding harder to get hold of in England.

For the 630,000 people with epilepsy living in the UK, these medicines help them safely live their lives and skipping a dose can have potentially deadly consequences.

“It’s really scary to think that through no fault of my own, this could be the reason I don’t wake up in the morning,” Beth Baker-Carey told the Independent.

The 28-year-old from Doncaster, who has suffered from seizures since she was two, once had ten seizures a day, but medication keeps her stable.

Although medicine shortages are common, she explained it has worsened since the start of the war in Iran. The department of health and social care is aware of supply issues with some epilepsy medications, but has said these are not directly linked to the war.

Ms Baker-Carey has been notified several times by pharmacies that they have no stock in recent months.

“I’ve had to jump through hoops and go to different pharmacies to get medication,” she said.

“A couple of times it has been quite late at night and I’ve not been able to get it. I’ve been told to just skip it for the night, which is not really wise for a person with epilepsy, skipping can be really dangerous and sometimes fatal."

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Source: The Independent, 6 May 2026

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