Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing prescribing guidelines for sodium valproate to help ensure that babies of men and women do not experience disability due to that medication.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on best practice. NICE will consider any amendments to its existing recommendations on the use of sodium valproate in the light of any changes to the medicine’s regulatory status.

In August 2023, NICE added a note to its guidance stating “The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued new safety advice on risks associated with valproate for the under 55s in December 2022. NICE states that the valproate recommendations in this guideline will be reviewed once further advice from the MHRA is available. People currently taking valproate should not stop taking it unless they are advised by a specialist to do so”.