A group of patients is suing a drugs company over medication they took to treat epilepsy.

The patients claim the drug Vigabatrin damaged their eyesight and in some cases caused blindness.

The drug is sold by Aventis Pharma under the trade name of Sabril.

Aventis intends to defend any lawsuits filed against it involving the product

Aventis Pharma spokeswoman

The company denies the drug is unsafe and has vowed to fight any action.

Solicitors representing the 30 patients say they hope to start proceedings against the manufacturers before the end of the year.

They are alleging that Aventis Pharma was aware that the drug could cause eye damage but failed to inform patients.

Investigations

Timothy Roper of Wolferstans Solicitors in Plymouth told BBC News Online that his clients had a strong case.

"From the evidence obtained to date, the claimants appear to have a strong claim in relation to individual causation of injury," he said.

"Our investigations are still continuing into when the manufacturer was aware or should have been aware of the risks associated with this drug."

He added: "A decision will be taken in the next few months on when to proceed."

Aventis Pharma said clinical trials had shown that the drug was safe.

A spokeswoman said: "Aventis intends to defend any lawsuits filed against it involving the product and will not comment further at this stage.

"An extensive and ongoing review of clinical data by the CPMP has resulted in repeated endorsements of the risk/benefit profile of Vigabatrin when used according to labelling and in the labelled patient population."

Epilepsy Action said few patients were now prescribed this medication.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: "Vigabatrin is no longer widely prescribed to people with epilepsy and normally this drug would only be prescribed by a consultant with a specialist interest in epilepsy."