Tatiana Rocha, baths her son Kaleth Heredia, 2, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela's brutal recession is worsening shortages of medicines from painkillers to chemotherapy drugs. With 85 of every 100 medicines now missing in Venezuela, anti-convulsants are among the toughest drugs to find, Venezuela's main pharmaceutical association said.

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Tatiana Rocha (L), feeds her son Kaleth Heredia, 2, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. An estimated 2 million to 3 million Venezuelans suffer from epilepsy at some point in their lives, according to Caracas-based support organization LIVECE. Patients have been struggling to find specific anti-convulsive medicines as far back as 2012.

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Ismael Blanco, 6, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, sucks his thumb while he sleeps during an electroencephalogram in a clinic in La Guaira, Venezuela. Due to untreated convulsions, progress has evaporated for otherwise functional people and those with severe disabilities who had managed to improve their mobility or speech.

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Leonardo Colmenares, 6, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, is kissed by his grandmother at his house in Caracas, Venezuela. Patients and families try anything they can to get hold of drugs: barter diapers, frantically engage in WhatsApp groups created specifically for pharmaceutical exchanges, use expired medicines or, if they can afford it, ask friends to bring them in from abroad.

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Iberis Vargas (L), holds her 7-month-old daughter, Geovelis Ramos, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, during an electroencephalogram in a clinic in La Guaira, Venezuela. The problem goes much further than just those with epilepsy. Unexpected convulsions can also afflict feverish children, accident victims or people with other neurological conditions.

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Jineth Estevez (C), carrying her son Carlos Baute, 2, pays for a neurological consultation and a electroencephalogram for him, at a clinic in La Guaira, Venezuela. The toddler unexpectedly started to shake and choke when he had a fever in January. Holding his tongue down with two fingers to keep him from swallowing it, his mother visited multiple underequipped hospitals before one finally treated him. Baute's mother said she could not find medication and was worried that her son, an active boy who has recovered and likes to dash around the clinic where he is being treated, may yet suffer another fit.

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Miguel Anton (L) comforts his son Jose Gregorio Anton, 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, after a blood test at a clinic in La Guaira, Venezuela. The shortages are so extreme that patients sometimes take medicines ill-suited for their conditions, doctors warn. Neurologist Beatriz Gonzalez of LIVECE said she was worried about epileptic mothers giving birth to deformed children because they take the wrong medicine, or losing the child because they cannot find the drugs.

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Norymar Torres, feeds his son Leonardo Colmenares, 6, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. Leonardo Colmenares, a 6-year-old with epilepsy and a degenerative neurological disease, weighed 10 kg (22 pounds) in mid-2016 but has lost 2 kg in six months as his mother struggles with his recommended diet. "I sell bracelets and watches, I buy bread and resell it, I dry hair, I do pedicures, I cook, I rent out the washing machine and I iron," said the single mother, who had to leave her job as a bank analyst to take care of Leonardo.

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Norymar Torres carries her son Leonardo Colmenares, 6, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while they travel on public transport in Caracas, Venezuela. When Leonardo convulses, she must rush him to a hospital because she has run out of anti-convulsants.

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Norymar Torres (C) carries her son Leonardo Colmenares, 6, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while she asks for medicine at a pharmacy in Caracas, Venezuela. "I can't just go to a park (with my son) because maybe I'll suddenly have to rush away," Torres said, fighting back tears. "I always have my heart in my mouth."

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Norymar Torres (R), holds the hand of her son Lorenzo, 5, and carries her son Leonardo, 6, who is a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while they wait for transportation on the street in Caracas, Venezuela. Leftist President Nicolas Maduro blames the shortages on a right-wing plot to overthrow him, but in a recent speech, he said he had approved "major dollar investments" to boost drug availability, without providing details. Venezuela is set to open three medical labs with Palestine, he added last week. "(We must) solve this very delicate issue that has been affected by the economic war," said Maduro.

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Tatiana Rocha (C), plays with her son Kaleth Heredia, 2, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at a park in Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela's Information and Health Ministries, as well as the Social Security Institute, which oversees some hospitals and drug distribution, did not respond to requests for comment.

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Isabel Buelvas, carries her grandson Kaleth Heredia, 2, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. Compounding medical issues, some families cannot even eat properly.

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Kaleth Heredia, 2, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, is carried by his grandmother Isabel Buelvas at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Tatiana Rocha feeds her son Kaleth Heredia, 2, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Isai Rocha (L), 14, kisses his brother Kaleth Heredia, 2, neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, before going out, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Lusnay Echezuria, embraces her daughter Arioska Torres, 3, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Iberis Vargas (R), holds her 7-month-old daughter, Geovelis Ramos, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while an specialist examines her in a clinic in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Miguel Anton (L covered) holds his son, Jose Gregorio Anton, 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while workers takes a picture to him for his ID in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Jose Gregorio Anton (R), 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, is kissed by a neighbour at his house in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Miguel Anton baths his son Jose Gregorio Anton, 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Miguel Anton feeds his son Jose Gregorio Anton, 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Isabel Buelvas takes a break while she gives a meal to her grandson Kaleth Heredia, 2, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, at their house in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Karla Martines carries her son Jose Gregorio Anton, 11, a neurological patient being treated with anticonvulsants, while they ride in a car in La Guaira, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins