Seizure Research Automatically Enrolls Kids in ERs

Want your child to participate in a study on seizure drugs? Just take your seizing little one to an emergency room participating in a study for the National Institutes of Health. Doctors at these ERs will dose first, ask questions later.

The study aims to discover which of two anti-seizure drugs, Diazepam or Lorazepam, is best at stopping serious seizures in children. Since there's not really time to go over paperwork and permission forms when a child is seizing, the doctors will effectively enroll children in the study by administering one of the two drugs, without getting a parent's OK first. No big controversy there -- parents aren't usually consulted over the drug given their children in this situation anyway.

When the seizure is over, parents will be asked whether their children can remain in the study. Those that do will receive future medical monitoring.