The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is investigating the safety of prenatal exposure to an anti-seizure drug called topiramate after a study published in May showed that it roughly triples a child’s likelihood of having autism or intellectual disability.
Another anti-seizure drug, called valproate, is already known to contribute to autism; in 2018, the European Medicines Agency partially banned the use of valproate during pregnancy. It also recommends against taking topiramate to manage migraines during pregnancy, but it does not advise getting off the medication during pregnancy if using it to manage seizures.
Several health agencies, including the MHRA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), do advise women who take the drug to use effective birth control and to avoid getting pregnant because it increases the risk of low birth weight and cleft palate or cleft lip in their children. Pregnant women should take topiramate ...
