taking the drug during pregnancy. sodium valproate was first prescribed in the uk in the 19705. patients were warned that there was a small chance of spina bifida. but it wasn t until 2005, that the risks of taking the drug during pregnancy were clearly listed on the patient information leaflet, which should come with a prescription. we ve now discovered new evidence showing information about the extent of malformations notified by sanofi to health regulators, that weren t passed on to patients between 1994 and 2005. 547 reports in total, which would also have been passed on to the uk s health regulator. the table represents widespread complications that mothers and their children have had from taking sodium valproate during pregnancy. there s been a significant delay between the evidence of these complications, which are shown in the table, and actually, action from our regulators. and in that period, many women have