Payton Stanley: Cannabidiol drug trial

Payton Stanley, 2, is enrolled in a clinical trial of cannabidiol (CBD), a compound extract from a cannabis plant. The year-long trial studies the potential benefits of CBD for children with epilepsy, and Le Bonheur is the only children’s hospital in Tennessee to participate.

Prior to taking CBD, Payton – who was diagnosed with infantile spams and complex partial seizures – would have up to 500 seizures a day, said his mother, Stephanie. When he was 6 months old, the Stanleys of Vinita, Okla., came to Le Bonheur for a lobectomy. In January 2016, the family returned for a hemispherectomy – another attempt to control Payton’s ongoing seizures.

The surgeries helped, Stephanie said, but the seizures would always return.

After his hemispherectomy, Le Bonheur neurologists suggested the Stanleys enroll in the hospital’s first CBD drug trial. Since taking CBD, Payton’s seizure activity has slowed – he’s now having fewer than 200 a week – and his family said his personality and cognitive ability also have improved.

“He’s more alert. He smiles more and giggles more. He giggles at everything,” Stephanie said.