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.