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- Billy Caldwell was the first person to receive a prescription for medical cannabis in the UK.
At 11, Billy Caldwell, was dying of severe epilepsy. His epilepsy was intractable, which means there was no medication, treatment or diet that could help him with his strong seizures.
His doctors then transferred him to the GP Brendan O’Hare clinic in northern Ireland to try an option still stigmatized in his country.
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His mother did not want to see her child suffer and have a miserable life, which is why she accepted that her son be prescribed medical cannabis.
This was a historic milestone since it was the first prescription of its kind in the entire United Kingdom.
Caldwell who died of severe seizures at age 11 has not had one since he was prescribed cannabis-based products.
At this point the researchers found that cannabis oil stopped the dangerous seizures that threatened the life of the child who at that time (2007) was 12 years old.
The reason? For doctors, the medicine that in this case included a high genetics of cannabidiol (CBD) from the cannabis plant was not mixed with any synthetic chemical.
His mother, Charlotte Caldwell, says that Billy had up to 100 seizures daily and that cannabis must also have them also helped to improve his autism.
For me it is incredible because the seizures were so strong that they could even kill him, the mother told a television network in England after 90 days of using the oil.
The CBD is legal in the United Kingdom and the Agency for the Regulation of Medicines and Wellness Products says that the CBD has “collective restorative effects with modifiers on the psychological functions of the body”
Even so, CBD has not been the only medicine that has benefited it. The child also takes tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) whose effects are also positive, however, this cannabinoid component is illegal in most countries of the world including the United Kingdom.
In 2019, Charlotte and Billy Caldwell are promoters of different programs that seek to help low-income people who can benefit from medical cannabis.
Despite this, this year his medicine was confiscated by a health department in his country for not being obtained through legal forms.
Charlotte called the situation “orchestrated cruelty” since her son’s health is endangered if he doesn’t have that medicine. As a result, Billy has been the face of the medical cannabis movement in the UK causing the authorities to run to prescribe these medicines.
Access remains a risk for people like Caldwell who are severely ill.