A NORTH-EAST girl is at the centre of a legal test case brought against the manufacturer of a drug treatment for epilepsy.

About 140 sufferers who were prescribed Vigabatrim are suing the manufacturer for more than £100,000 each, after claiming the drug damaged their eyesight.

Among those taking legal action against Aventis Pharma is the family of Elizabeth Hopkins, of Ropner Gardens, Middleton St George, near Darlington.

In writs issued at London's High Court by Plymouth solicitors Wolferstans, the claimants say the drug is defective.

They have accused the drug firm of breach of contract.

A spokesman for the solicitors said the drug had caused visual field loss, sometimes known as tunnel vision.

Some claimants have been forced to register as blind.

According to a study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, the drug is an effective way to treat epilepsy.

However the study indicates that it can lead to visual field defects and eyesight abnormalities in about 40 per cent of those taking the drug, with men more likely to be affected than women.

About 140,000 people are believed to have been prescribed the drug worldwide. It is thought the number of claimants in the UK could run into the thousands.

Because of the potential numbers involved and to prevent the case dragging on for years, a cut-off date of September 17 has been set for claims to be launched.

It is anticipated it will take about two years before the case gets to court.

A spokesman for Aventis Pharma said they would "rigorously defend" the claims against Vigabatrim, also known as Sabril.

He said: "Sabril is licensed in the UK and 61 other countries.

"It is an effective treatment for epilepsy, particularly in resistant cases where other medicines are ineffective.

"As such it enables severe epilepsy sufferers to have a quality of life that would not otherwise be possible. Sabril has been continually assessed by the scientific body of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency, which endorses its positive risk/benefit profile.

"We cannot comment on individual cases but we are defending all the claims that have been made."

Miss Hopkins is lodging the claim through her father Richard Hopkins. The family were not available for comment yesterday.