Pregnancy News
New Drug Labeling To Alert Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced a plan to create new labeling for all prescription drugs to better create awareness among pregnant and breastfeeding women about the dangers certain medications pose to themselves, their fetuses, or their new babies. The FDA estimates that pregnant women take an average of 3-5 prescription drugs during the course of their pregnancy and that clearer and more accurate labeling will help these women to safely take their medications. Dr. Andrew C. Von Eschenbach, the commissioner for the FDA, has pushed for the changes in the labeling of medications for pregnant and nursing women because these are women with “very, very special needs.” The current system of labeling designates each prescription medication with a letter, each representing a category: whether the drug is safe, dangerous for the fetus, dangerous for the pregnancy, etc…. However, most women find this current system too confusing. The new proposed labeling method will clearly mark each prescription drug as safe or unsafe for pregnant and breastfeeding women and list the potential health effects of the medication on pregnant women and their babies. The new labels will also include information on how these risks change during the course of pregnancy. For example, one medication might be dangerous to the fetus during the first trimester but be perfectly safe to take during the third trimester. The changes in labeling are expected to be implemented by June 2010.
http://medheadlines.com
www.washingtonpost.com
