Formularies, costs, and quality of care: Formulary restrictions are not the answer, especially for epilepsy.

The goal of treating an individual with epilepsy is to have no seizures and no side effects. Limiting availability of medications appears to be a simple way of controlling costs of patient care. This approach potentially jeopardizes both efficacy and safety. We argue, in this edition of Current Controversies, that limiting costs by restricting formularies is detrimental to the patients from an efficacy, safety, and cost perspective.