Bendectin And Birth Defects (Page 26)

I took this drug in the 1970's while pregnant. Am looking for the side effects to the babies. Drug has been off the market for many years. Not sure on correct spelling. Used for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Thank you for any help you can send me. Sincerely, Dana.

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melva and fred, thank you for posting concerns regarding your children.

For quite some time now I have held suspicions that 'pyridoxine' [more commonly known as vitamin B6], which is one of the ingredients of Bendectin/Debendox/Diclectin, could be responsible for some people being born with health problems. I have also mentioned before on this Bendectine page that I seriously think that some mothers' [and perhaps their babies' too] lack of certain enzymes may be responsible in some way for some of their, and their babies', problems. I have found an article which clearly explains that some people are unable to properly metabolize Vitamin B12 [also called 'Cobalamin'].

If someone simply cannot properly metabolize something, like Vitamin B12 [or even the pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) in Bendectin] but are still given [prescribed] it, then it could cause some harm to varying degrees, just like when those who are allergic to peanuts are accidently given some 'Goobers'.

The researchers in this article [link provided below] were able to study no less than several hundred patients, all of whom had similar symptoms, so it can't be said to be a rare disease, on the contrary, and some of these patients did not have the genetic mutation that was common among to the 'cblC' [Cobalamin C deficiency] patients.

Here's the link:

eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/uocd-pig090513.php

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Hi, i remember being told repeatedly 1979 that the little red Bendictine pill was perfectly safe. I took it only everyother day from 4 to 12 weeks. My son was born with a large capillary hemagioma (birth mark) around his left eye, eyelid and brow. He has two beautiful, healthy children and is a wonderful engineer, father, and husband.

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Mary P.I took the drug Bendictine for all of the Nine months I was pregnant. This was in 1975 when I was pregnant with my second child a boy. He was born on November 25th 1975. He was delivered regularly. When he was born he cry real quietly. The doctors said he needed to go to Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St Louis Mo. He was operated on that day because his Diaphragm was missing. This caused all if his organs in the lower part of his body to be up in his chest making his heart smaller,lungs smaller and any other organs smaller to. He only lived 6hrs from the time he was born. With this drug I took I was sick all the time. My son Andrew lived off of me so he could survive in the womb. I am bringing this to the attention of others I hope this helps. Just recently I found this information about this drug.

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Hmmmmm...your note has me thinking about how my daughter's rib cage was "loose" and kind of floating upwards when she was a baby. Because she fell on her clavicle before she was one, we had immobilized her upper body for a week and after that, the rib cage seemed to "stay" in place which to this day is higher than other people. She is now 40. It bothered her when she was younger wearing scooped necklines. I had Bendictine inj. for 5 months of nausea.

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I took benedictine in 1977 with my son Iwas very sick. He wwas born with hip displasia as he grew his feet began to grow wrong. As he got older his he had severe qallergies and asthma. Then in school he was diagnosed with add and dyslexia. Hes 37 and has 4 kids all have ADHD. I believe it was the meds. Also he Has cerebral palsy. Mild case. But it doesn't matter its still bad.

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It's easy to understand how people search for answers when they're dealt difficult circumstances, and thus logical to make connections where none exist. Here's another way to look at it: peanut allergies have been on the rise for two decades, roughly the time bendictine was withdrawn from the market. Should we conclude, then, that bendictine was preventing peanut allergies from developing?

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For all anyone knows, Bendectin might have indeed been preventing peanut allergies in *some* people; just like thalidomide, which was supposed to have been manufactured for but one purpose but then went on to be used 'off label' to combat Hansen's disease etc.

How many times, since mankind first started inventing things has he/she found that whatever contraption or drug that he/she invented for a specific purpose was completely upstaged when someone else found a completely different and far more benefical use for the very same contraption/s or drug/s, and it wasn't hard to find a better use for thalidomide than its being used to cause many gross deformities? It's exactly the same with your 'free time', because someone else (if given enough time) can always find what they think is a far better use of your 'free time' (in their always trying to get you to use your 'free time' off label) if you let them...and I have no time for 'em(ploying me).

Here's another one to ponder. Not everyone is said to have progeria. We are all led to believe that people who don't have progeria are aging normally, but are we? Just because everyone (apart from those with progeria) is aging at what is considered to be the same rate then we like to think that we're 'normal' in that respect, never forgetting that the 'mal' part of the word nor'mal' means 'sick' (ill). Now, I don't think we'd need look too hard to find plenty of people who are aging 'normally' but still have a constant wish that they could slow down their aging if not stop it completely altogether'd-mentality

Not only the taking of drugs, but anything at all, is really but a lucky dip at best'imate, because you can never be absolutely certain beforehand what you're likely to end up with. Sometimes, the removal of something can improve things no end, and as you're probably aware, the manufacturers of Bendectin or Diclectin did remove one of the several ingredients in their product when it (the ingredient) was found to be serving no purpose. So what was it doing in there in the first place if it served no purpose and why did they continue to sell their drug with the non-essential ingredient in it for some years before deciding to remove it forever? Leaving it in there for so long before removing it is not much different from when thalidomide was evaluated on rats before being given to who knows how many pregnant women with the errant thinking that if it doesn't affect rats then it'll be quite ok for pregnant women and their fetuses. I wonder if some of the rats, those that were examined with thalidomide, had been previously allergic to peanuts but then came good only to find out that they weren't going to be given any goobers anyway...before or after? Like many other things in his world, perhaps we'll never know, and if we don't, then I'm sure that it won't be for the lack of our wanting to find definitive answers.

Every parent who takes the time to post a caring comment here (and elsewhere) about their children and Bendectin/Debendox/Diclectin etc. may help someone who is in serious search of a common denominator, something that could indeed assist and improve medical science in some way. Some people are very clever at doing this but they need something in the way of evidence (rather than the languishing lack of such) to work with.

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I wonder why Emtridoc is so interested in following this discussion. I can't help but wonder what your Emtridoc's background is and why you are so determined to defend Bendectcine.

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I took dendectin for severe morning sickness for 4 months and my son was born in Oct 1978. He has severe bi polar syndrome and suffer s daily. My son was always advanced until he was diagnosed in his early twenties. He is now 37. His life and the entire family suffers every day. These children, the victims deserve compensation for the greed of the pharmaceuticals for destroying so many lives!!!!!!!

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I know, Rebekkah, crazy, huh? You could conclude that I have stock in the company or otherwise take money from them (and I've certainly been accused of that on this site), but that would be ignorant and based on zero facts, and simply making a connection where none exists. It would also be par for the course on this site. Instead the reality is that I'm a physician and thus have some grounding in science. I stumbled on this site when a friend of mine was suffering from morning sickness that was not responding to available antiemetics and I was trying to recall the ingredients of bendictine which of course are available over-the-counter. I was stunned by the appalling lack of understanding of basic science and statistics ("my child was born with extra toes when I took bendictine, my other children were "normal" when I didn't, it must be the medication") I understand how people make that connection, but it's ignorant of statistics (extra digits are relatively common, yet it would be typical that only one child of 2 or 3 (or 1000) would have them) and science (which has studied the question of bendictine and association with complications endlessly and found none). My goal was to help people understand the basics, but like vaccines, they would rather trust their neighbor's facebook posting than someone (like the American and Canadian governing bodies of Obstetrics and Gynecology and many others) who actually have reviewed the literature and studied the question. I've been called names and accused of many things, but of course no one has been able to refute the studies I've cited or brought contrary data to the table (ILP cited one study, but it was actually about thalidimide, which of course has been demonstrated to cause birth defects, but at least ILP engages in thoughtful discourse). Maybe we should tackle vaccines here?

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Emitrodoc-- I'm personally not interested in debating anything with you.Every decade there are medical dogmas that are found to be incorrect. it was medical doctors who couldn't figure out that washing their hands could drastically reduce puerperal fevver in new mothers. It was medical doctors who prescribed DES. It was obstetricians who demanded that pregnant women reduce their food intake, thus putting the mothers and babies in danger. Too many people think that medical doctors are intelligent because they go to many years of school and learn to parrot back the "right" answers. There are no "safe" drugs.

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Of course you're not interested in debate because you're not interested in reviewing data or information, just intuition and unfounded opinion. All those opions you cited (handwashing, etc) were ultimately refuted by science. And by the way, I love comparing hand washing from 150 years ago when people didn't even understand germ theory or the presence of microbes/bacteria. Opinion also held that the world was flat for a long time, but ultimately science got in the way of that, too.

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Emitrodoc, seems like I touched a nerve? Handwashing is not important? You know nothing about me -- yet you assume that I speak because of "intuition." There is no drug that does not have side effects. Perhaps you should start reading about the drugs you prescribe instead of throwing accusations toward those of us who do.

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Rebekkah, Of course handwashing is critical to prevention of spread of disease. Prior to the work of Semmelweis the prevailing opinion was there was no link to germ theory. Science and research proved otherwise. Failure to wash hands today is commonly linked to spread of hospital acquired infections like C. diff. If you have facts or studies beyond your opion I'd be happy to discuss. But of course you don't. Or are you holding out until a better time to share? What drugs do you believe I should start studying? Which ones haven't I studied?

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After reading all the questions and replies.......yes, my daughter has some of the many medical challenges mentioned in this Bendictine thread. However, when I really think back to the time I was on it, I was thankful that I could finally get out of bed and function. I had been retching and vomiting because I could not keep food down. I even had spots of blood being vomited. ( broken blood vessels?) Anyhow, I was very thankful that my OB actively took care of me and baby. It was not known then if this rx was questionable. I have considered, that because of the vomiting, did my baby get the nourishment that was needed the first couple of months, especially to the forming nervous system. Just a thought.

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It was the beginning of my fifth month of pregnancy and I was vomiting all the time but everything was normal I didn't want to take a drug. The ob said, well, the vomiting isn't harmful to the baby or you but if you drive off the road while commuting an hour and a half to work you could have a car accident. So I took bendectine. At the end of the month my baby was dead and I had to have what is called a hysterotomy (simply put, a hysterotomy is a cesarean to remove a dead baby -- NOT a hysterectomy).

This, of course, does not prove that bendectine was to blame but it arouses my suspicion. An earlier poster wrote about high doses of B6 interfering with absorption of B12, and that does make sense.

(And by the way, the ob should have advised me to stop commuting an hour and a half and talked to me about diet like a midwife would have done, but that's a post for another forum)

Vomiting all the time is horrible and it's totally understandable why most people on this list took bendectine. It's worrisome to think that a pregnant woman can't nourish herself. How sad that obstetricians don't know how to support healthy pregnancies without drugs. My mother took DES with my sister and my sister lost two babies due to problems with her cervix. Drugs have problems.

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Rebekkah, Let me first say I am very sorry for your loss. I am fortunate and have 3 healthy children, but I am an Emergency Physician and I see badness all the time and can only imagine what it would be like to go through that pain.

It is definitely not normal to have constant vomiting at 5 months of pregnancy and dehydration (from vomiting or otherwise) is a risk to pregnancies (and mothers). I am in no position to judge what was going on with your pregnancy.

You will never hear me say taking medications is without risk. I advise people to seek acupuncture and other alternatives to western medicine when I think those are better options. That said, everything we do in medicine is always a risk/benefit analysis. Simple things like deciding to give antibiotics to someone complaining of sinusitis which probably doesn't need antibiotics in the first place can lead to grave consequences and even death. Getting a CT scan of the head to children who bumped their head on a door but are acting normally "just to check" can lead to head and neck cancers in the future.

And yes, there is no doubt that there are side effects with every medication and none should be taken lightly.

That said, sometimes bad things happen to good people and while we want to blame someone or something we are mortal and live in an imperfect world. When people want to blame everything (and the list on this site is long and varied) on bendictine it goes beyond logic and so I encourage people to look at the research. Don't listen to me (no one hear is, anyway), but look into it for yourself.

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Rebekkah, I posted a response yesterday but I guess it's pending "clearence". I don't think we disagree as much as we think we disagree (though there will still be room for disagreement). Hopefully it will post soon.

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how can i find out what drug i took for my morning sickness. it was a liquid and tasted like mint or peppermint. is this the drug bendectin? My daughter has had ovarion cysts at the age of 14. she lost her first pregnancy. had a son then had an atopical pregnancy. they had to take the ovarie and the tube. Now its been 7 years and still she can't get pregnant. Also she was born with a double uvula ,and underbite and ear and sines problems. I can't remember the name of the meds. i was pregnant in 1986.

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Well I can certainly see why you have been accused of having interest with the pharmaceuticals. You are clearly siding with these vultures. Always promoting to take drugs for everything. There are so many people, including young children on mind altering drugs, most with some permanent side effect. Its all about the all mighty dollar, or should I say billions! You have now more interest in peoples pain and hardships than the pharmaceuticals do.

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