Medical practitioners and experts gathered at the UWI Inn and Conference Centre on Saturday with the common goal of sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and advancing understanding in the field of epilepsy.
At the 2025 Caribbean Epilepsy Conference, consultant and neurologist Dr. Sherry Sandy said women with epilepsy are still facing barriers rooted in old beliefs and modern-system failures.
Today, she said the challenge looks different but is just as serious, as she noted that women with epilepsy are still being issued high-risk medication, while safer options remain widely unavailable.
“And so that’s largely because you still have persistent global high-risk use of medication. I don’t know how often phenytoin is used in Montreal, Calgary, or Texas, but it’s very prevalent here. You know, it’s still widely used and largely because of our limited availability to treat status epilepticus. So most patients come in they get not even IV phosphatidin but IV phenytoin, and then they tend to remain on the phenytoin because it’s easy to titrate.”
Dr. Sandy said women remain under-represented in research, leading to gaps in global data and treatment recommendations.
Also at the conference was Adult Epileptologist Dr. Dang Nguyen, who warned that choosing an anti-seizure medication is not a one-size-fits-all decision.
“So anti-seizure medication choice is not benign and can have profound consequences. So what can happen when you don’t choose the right drug? So first, inappropriate drug selection increases seizure recurrence and thus increase the risk of hospitalisation, emergency room visits, SUDEP risk. Delaying seizure control can also worsen cognitive and psychosocial burdens, outcomes, and delaying optimal treatment may also delay surgical evaluation.”
With more than 30 medications now on the market, Dr. Nguyen said a structured, evidence-based approach is critical to prevent avoidable harm.
The Caribbean Epilepsy Conference is aimed at advancing care through shared knowledge, multidisciplinary dialogue, and evidence-based practice.