AUSTIN, Texas–Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation (TXOG), Texas’ leading medical cannabis provider, announced 14-year-old patient James Challenger reached two years without experiencing a seizure in March 2022. He has also stopped taking all oral seizure pills as of March 2022—a reduction of more than 20 pills a day to none after introducing medical cannabis into his treatment plan. One of TXOG’s original medical cannabis patients, James’ milestone represents the proven efficacy of medical cannabis in managing epilepsy as well as symptoms of autism.
As a young patient with autism and epilepsy, James’ family explored several medications, therapies and treatment plans to best address his diagnoses. His physicians even considered brain surgery as a solution to the seizures James experienced for the first decade of his life, which had increased in frequency to 100 seizures per day by 2017. It wasn’t until James’ parents found TXOG’s medical cannabis in 2018 that they established a care plan that led to significant results. Medical cannabis not only enabled James to achieve seizure freedom but also improved his coordination and empowered him to regularly participate in activities with friends and family.
“Medical cannabis is the only remedy that has worked wonders for James, and our family is grateful for this encouraging treatment option that allowed him to avoid surgery and harsh seizure medications,” said Mikelle and Mike Challenger, James’ parents. “Since James started his TXOG prescription, we’ve seen an incredible improvement in his daily life, and we’re thrilled to celebrate his two-year anniversary without a seizure last month. We strongly believe medical cannabis is a healthy option that should be available to all Texans who want to gain control over their debilitating conditions and symptoms.”
The Challenger family advocates for increasing access to medical cannabis in Texas and supports expanding the state’s Compassionate Use Program (CUP) to enable more people to benefit from the medicine. By removing the CUP’s restriction on qualifying conditions—and eliminating the THC cap—the family hopes physicians will have greater authority to decide what is best for their patients. The Challengers know that an expanded program would mean more Texans could experience the improvements that James has seen.
“I remember when James and his family first came to pick up his medicine in Texas Original’s earliest days. Now, James is one of thousands of Texas patients who have reached freedom from their life-altering symptoms and can enjoy precious time with loved ones with the help of medical cannabis,” said Morris Denton, CEO of TXOG. “When people ask me if our medicine works, all I need to do is show them the proof of the truth with patients like James and his wonderful, supportive family.”
SOURCE: businesswire.com, Emma Chase
