Use of ulcer drug leads to birth defects

Use of ulcer drug leads to birth defects

PARIS (AFP): A minor epidemic of birth defects is occurring in
developing countries, where poorer women are turning to an ulcer
drug called misoprostol to try to end their pregnancy because
abortion is banned or restricted, a report says.

Misoprostol is being used to carry out clandestine abortions
in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic,
Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa and the Philippines, the British
weekly New Scientist says in next Saturday's issue.

However, the drug induces abortion only about 40 percent of
the time, which means that many babies are born after failed
termination attempts.

Doctors have discovered a high rate of birth defects among
infants exposed in utero to misoprostol, such as fused joints,
growth retardation and a paralysis of the face called Moebius
syndrome.

In Brazil, where up to 75 percent of clandestine abortions
involve misoprostol, studies suggest between a third and a half
of infants born with Moebius had been exposed to misoprostal, New
Scientist says.

Misoprostol is very cheap, being available for as little as 35
US cents, and can often be bought over the counter, making it
"the poor person's method" of abortion, it adds.