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WASHINGTON (AP) - When children suffer life-threatening seizures, doctors have minutes to decide which of two drugs to use to try to save them — with no good research on which works better.
Eleven hospitals around the country are beginning a special study to finally answer that question: A computer will randomly assign patients to get either Valium or Ativan within five minutes of arriving in the emergency room.
Because of the time crunch, doctors won't seek parents' permission first. Children brought to those emergency rooms with the unrelenting seizures known as "status epilepticus" will be enrolled in the study automatically.
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