Sodium Valproate (valproate) is an effective medicine used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder. A number of medicinal products contain sodium valproate or valproic acid and people may be more familiar with the brand names of these medicines which include Epilim® and Depakote®.
Between April 2022 and March 2023 there were more than 200,000 prescriptions for medicines containing valproate dispensed and between 15,000 and 20,000 people are regularly prescribed valproate in Wales.
In 2018, a large-scale review of the safety of valproate led to regulatory changes intended to reduce the number of unborn babies exposed to valproate. These included a ban on the use of valproate for migraine or bipolar disorder during pregnancy, and a ban on the use of valproate to treat epilepsy during pregnancy unless no other effective treatment is available.
The UK’s medicines regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) requires that valproate must not be used in any woman or girl able to have children unless there is a pregnancy prevention programme (PPP) in place.
Further information on the regulatory measures to reduce the harms from valproate can be found at: