Curtis Claassen, B. Sc. Pharm 

Curtis graduated in 1991 and was blessed to arrive in the paediatric neurology clinic in 2002. Although he is the pharmacist for our entire section of paediatric neurology most of his time is spent on the frontlines facilitating the care of children with epilepsy.

His work revolves around providing an opinion on all issues related to a patient’s drug treatment and in order to meet the capacity demands of our busy clinics. He works behind the scenes with neurologists/epileptologists and nursing staff at the Children’s Hospital, in Calgary.

Drug related issues that he assists with typically involve him helping choose the next appropriate antiseizure medication for a child with refractory epilepsy and assessing the safety of medication regimens, via reviewing medication dosing and the risk of same causing drug interactions. Our team also works together to create seizure action plans for children with a history of prolonged seizures/seizure clusters/status epilepticus. He facilitate access to drugs that aren’t commercially available in Canada via the Special Access Program and assists with medication coverage concerns.

Lastly he participates in quality improvement projects which has resulted in treatment pathways for epilepsy syndromes as well as antiseizure medication pathways, both of which are necessary to enhance the consistency and safety of the care we provide.