Four-year-old Ola died in early May. Although the girl was eligible for medical marijuana treatment, she did not receive it on time due to the lengthy procedure.
Although Ola was born prematurely – in the 37th week of pregnancy burdened with low hydrocephalus – the first six weeks of her life did not herald the upcoming drama. The baby was developing normally. After this time, however, the girl began to show a strong Moro reflex. In its course, the child straightens the arms and legs, then clenches his fists and embraces the chest. A consultation with a doctor has shown that what the mother initially took to be a physiological reflex was in fact West Syndrome.
In West syndrome, there are flexion seizures and psychomotor development arrest. Unfortunately, this is usually just the beginning of the problems, because West’s syndrome heralds other ailments. Ola’s epileptic seizures started quickly.
Then the process of consulting other specialists and administering stronger and stronger drugs began. Paulina Janowicz, Ola’s mother, calculates that during the first 2,5 years of her daughter’s life, the child was seen by a dozen or so different doctors and took over 20 medications. Many of the prescribed pharmacological agents put a heavy strain on the body. They include steroids and psychotropics, and with them side effects – lack of appetite, digestive problems, irritability, insomnia. The drugs were ineffective and the seizures were life-threatening.
Hope appeared when, in 2014, Ola came to Dr. Marek Bachański from the Children’s Memorial Health Institute. Gradually, all previously prescribed medications were discontinued, and instead, CBD oil, i.e. hemp oil, was legal in Poland. The girl’s condition began to improve immediately. The baby slept nights, and the number of life-threatening seizures dropped from five a day to several a month.
In July 2015 it was decided that Ola should get dried marijuana with more THC. Although the oil used was effective, it did not bring sufficient results. However, the use of dried herbs is not legal in Poland and it was necessary to start the procedure of importing the target drug for Ola. Unfortunately, dr. Bachański could not write the requisition, and shortly afterwards he was dismissed from CZD.
The doctor who agreed to write out the demand for target imports was not found until December 2015, and approval from the Ministry of Health was obtained in mid-February 2016. However, further problems arose. The pharmacy that was supposed to sell the drug could not find a wholesaler that wanted to get it. It was successful only after a week, but information was received that the measure would be available at the end of May.
Ola did not live to see the middle that could save her life. On May 2, she suffered a seizure that resulted in a 20-minute cardiac arrest. The girl was resuscitated by a nurse for 20 minutes, and after that time she was intubated by an ambulance team. In the hospital, however, it turned out that irreversible changes had occurred in the child’s brain. The girl died on May 6.
Based on: gazeta.pl