Bendectin And Birth Defects (Page 27)

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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Nancy, This is what kills me: I'm not siding with anyone, just reporting what the scientific literature (and not pharma sponsored studies, which is always important to check) demonstrates. The medical community is squarely supportive of the use of this medication and the vast majority have no financial interest.

I have no love of pharma deriving big profits or pushing wasteful/low value medications (and it's easy for me to produce a list of examples), but it's silly to throw a blanket suggesting that all drugs are bad/have awful side effects. Insulin, albuterol, antihypertensive medications, statins, and on and on help people live longer, better, and happier. Can you imagine living with asthma if you didn't have the proper meds? Before penicillin routine dental infections had high mortality rates. HIV was a death sentence, but now people can live long and productive lives because of pharmaceuticals. These meds can and do cause side effects but on balance are beneficial.

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I took Debendox in 1967 for severe nausea in my first pregnancy - she was born without a thyroid gland - a very rare condition. My other 3 children were born without any defects but I didn't take any drugs during those pregnancies.

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It's unlikely that every congenital malformation that has been presented on this forum is due to bendectine, but it would be interesting to somehow compile the stories and see whether there is a pattern. I am particularly interested in the poster who wrote about the relationship between B12 deficiency and too much B6 (which is in bendectine) since my daughter is deficient in B12.

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kathy g, thanks for your message. The mint/peppermint-flavoured liquid you took for morning sickness might have been an antacid like Mylanta or Gaviscon etc. Were you given a doctor's prescription for the liquid or did you just purchase it over-the-counter?

Everyone, more especially so pregnant women, should always retain the packet/container of any drug (take a photograph of the packet/prescription too) they take and keep a detailed written record of when they took the drug, how much of it they took, and any felt side effects etc. When my mother took Debendox (which was the same as Bendectin/Diclectin) she didn't like it, so she returned what was left (still in its packet) of it to her chemist who just quietly took it from her and said no mo re'medially.

There is nothing like having detailed evidence of something and it's pleasing to see that we commenters are now asked "Please be detailed" (with the word "detailed" *underscored*) with our message when we wish to post a message on this august forum. From little things big things grow'nership'so facto.

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I also took this drug in 1975 I had morning sickness so bad, when my son was a baby he hardly ever slept, and still has problems with sleep to this day, he is very smart and played sports, but there is something different, I have often wondered if it was asburgers? not sure how to spell it. He is almost 40, and when it comes to family functions he is very distant, but when he is doing his D.J. gigs, he mixes music and has won 5 in a row for electronic producer, he is a total different person. there is more I wonder about, how do I find out ? something needs to be done about this drug and the after effects

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I took Bendectin for my first pregnancy in 1967. My daughter has ADD and her thumbs are quite short. She also had asthma as an infant and still has it. I would like to know if there is a legal suit against Merrell. I would also like to know if there is a statute of limitation. I KNOW the Bendectin caused her problems!

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Probably most of us took it in the first three months when the nausea is worst -- although for me it lasted longer -- and I think that is the worst time to expose an unborn baby to drugs. It would be interesting if there could be a study of our grown children (examining their blood, etc.), to see what they have in common -- what deficiencies, etc. So much time has gone by that the variables involved would be overwhelming. I wonder how the original "studies" were done. Anyone know?

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The spelling is bendectin. My son was born with lobar holoprosencephaly caused by bendectin. Dow chemical sold the company marion merill dow to a german company with a $250 million insurance policy to protect them from bendectin legal suits.

Regards,
Fred

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I got in touch with a group who replied that they could not find a legal case for Bendectin....that's not to say one isn't out there. They are NOT lawyers. I had to take this drug for literally my entire pregnancy in 1967. From what I have read here, many birth defects resulted from use of this drug. I am curious to know if there is a statute of limitation. I would absolutely join a legal case.

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Ok, sorry to bring this up again, but there were numerous legal cases against the manufacture, Merrell Dow, not a single one which was found on behalf of the plaintiffs. Extensive research has found no link with the medication and birth defects. Here's the conclusion from Reproductive Toxicology, Vol 9, Issue 4, 1995: "Conclusion: the five-part analysis of Bendectin reproductive effects indicates that therapeutic use of Bendectin has no measurable teratogenic effects. Presentations by many of the plantiff's experts failed to meet the scientific standards that should be expected of knowledgeable scientists and contributed to the persistence of Bendectin litigation". Other citations are listed in previous posts.

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Those who've not yet read it may find the case of *Blum vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals* very interesting (see the link below). Because much information (plus an inordinate amount of sharp and shoddy practice to boot) about this anti-emetic drug was deliberately hidden way back then (1982), it's now so important for every parent (or anyone else) who has had some involvement with Bendectin/Debendox/Diclectin to disclose what experience (good or bad) that they've had with this drug, before it (the information) is lost forever. When you've some spare time, just use a good 'search engine' (try using different 'search engines'/'browsers' as well) to unearth whatever you're able to and then let everyone else know what you've found. If you have some kith and (s)kin in the 'game' then put your interest to work by finding out what you can from the internet, and if we all continue endeavoring thusly then we'll likely find a mountain of information, but if we all just sit back expecting someone else to do all the work then everyone might just 'find' nothing worthy at all, if anything.

If you don't yet know how to get the best from your computer then ask someone to help you, and let them know which particular information you seek (they too may then take up the 'cudgels' as well), like information about Bendectin and its 'cousins' etc., and instead of just searching for information about 'Bendectin', try seeing what you can find about 'Debendox' or 'Diclectin' as well (or any other 'brand name' that this very same drug is sold under), because you might just find what you're looking for where you least expect it, just like I've done on many an occasion. The internet is replete with 'serendipitous-searchers', so do give it 'a shot' yourself. Best of luck in your travels!

Here's the link below:

birthdefects.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Bendectin-JOP.pdf

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I took a lot of benedictine in1975, my first daughter was born with advanced cleft palate, is 40 now and still a great deal of problems, has one ear very clostatomic, not able to have kids and severe stomach problems

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Id like to know then if debondox is "safe" then why do my doctors use the diagnosis of gestational defect for alot of my problems. When i was they only one my mother took debondox with my other siblings are fine

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Kristy, consider congential defects in newborns in general (I don't know your diagnosis, so I'm not saying it's a congential defect, but by way of example). The incidence is approximately 2%, or 2 in every 100 live births. So if in your family you had 49 siblings and you were the only one with a congenital defect you could not conclude anything but coincidence with anything your mother had taken (or failed to take) during pregnancy. If on the other hand you had a thousand mothers who had taken bendictine and 1000 who did not, and the rate in of the defect was 8% in the former group while just the expected 2% in the latter, then you might be on to something. The data from large groups of women who took this medication while pregnant does not show a difference over what would be expected. Also think about genetic causes. In the simplist form, if both of your parents were blood type A but both carried the recessive O gene then probability would predict that only 1 of 4 children would be blood type O. If the one child who turned out to be O was the only one who was exposed to a medication in utero could we correctly conclude it was the medication since only that one child who was type O? Of course not. It's just coincidence. This is the difference between anecdote and statistical analysis.

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I think that most people are on this forum because they believe that there is a link between physical problems and bendectin. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies are the ones that conduct the "research" and they have something at stake in proving that there is no link. Also, it is important to remember that most doctors get their information about the drugs from the pharma reps. Doctors have something at stake in believing that they haven't prescribed a drug that created problems. What's frustrating is that it has been such a long time since most of us took bendectin.

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Rebekkah, your point is excellent, and one should always review the literature critically for rigor and appropriate conclussions. Any industry backed research should also merit a very jaundice eye. BUT, the pharmaceuticals are not the only ones doing the research, not by a long shot (which is why we should continue to support the NIH and other research institutions). My organization has an internal Divsion of Research that produces a wide body of research without industry backing (demonstrating the link with Cox-II inhibitors and heart disease, for example). It cuts both ways, of course, as famously the studies that found a link between immunizations and autisim were backed by the legal effort bringing litigation against the manufacturers. These were proven falsified and the studies ultimately retracted.

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Emtridoc, one can't always trust a doctor's diagnosis given that several doctors seeing the same patient can, and if fact do, often give entirely different opinions. I remember reading an article about x-rays or cat scans [I forget which part of the body had been x-rayed/scanned] and the researchers had deliberately superimposed a small cartoon-like character into the x-ray/scan 'picture' and then asked quite a few experienced radiologists to have a look at the 'picture' and then give their expert opinion. None of them noticed [or made any mention of] the odd-looking 'character' simply because they weren't really 'looking' for something that should not have been there, but it clearly was. Does this sound familiar when one thinks specifically about congenital abnormalities that shouldn't be there? These 'experts' were only looking for any known anomaly that was familiar to their experience of such. Many times laypersons can clearly see what the putative experts can't. Doctors' differing diagnoses are similar to when many people from all walks of life look at the same piece of art with no two people necessarily seeing [or diagnosing/critiqueing] the same thing. If you want to hide something [or the cause of such], the best place to hide it is in the most obvious 'place' [placenta?].

Using only live births doesn't really do justice to statistics because there may have been many stillborn babies from full-term [or near full-term] pregnancies [where Bendectin/Diclectin/Debendox was taken] who had deformities and their deformities may have been directly responsible for them being stillborn, and live babies will obviously always have 'a lot less wrong with them' than stillborn babies, and many mothers/families never get to see their stillborn children so they won't know of any abnormalities unless told about them. Can you now see how easy it is for someone to be surreptitiously-selective presenting their statistics? I know that you are only reporting what you've read, and the statistics you cite may be true, but then again, they may not, and because they don't mention stillbirths then I tend to believe that the cited statistics aren't correct when we take all [or as many as medical science possibly can] congenital abnormalities into account, which we really must, and then of course disclose the true result therefrom.

How does one hide congenital deformities when they're as plain as the nose on one's face? One does it with hard and fa_st'atistics.

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ILP, with due respect, hunh?? I'm not really sure what your point is? Missing a cartoon character on an imaging study, something that truly doesn't belong, seems like a non sequitur. Certainly your mind blocks things that logically don't belong (search the web for "ape walking through baseketball players" for interesting mind game). Are you suggesting that doctors (or whomever) are more likely to miss congenital defects in those who were exposed to bendectin than those who were not? There's no logic to that. To your question, however, I reference Kutcher et al, Dec. 2001: "Bendectin and Birth Defects II, Ecological Analysis" which reviewed the Birth Defects Monitoring Program from the CDC, a nationwide surveilance of live AND stillborn births (more than 15.5 million births across 1200 hospitals) and concluded "no evidence of teratogenic effect from use of bendectin"

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Emitrodoc has an agenda and it's a waste of time to get into discussions with him/her. It distracts from comparing notes and seeking similariities in cases. What would be most useful would be to find the common threads. Ir could be that takig bendectin compromised certain nutrients that led to long term chronic illnesses, and by determining that, some of our children could improve their health.

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Thank you, Rebekkah, for recognizing that I have an agenda - interjecting science and logic to this discussion, as opposed to say, "let's bring about a legal suit" and "make them pay". What's past is prologue. I applaud looking for themes instead of blaming every unfortunate outcome to befall a child. However when someone asks "has this ever been studied looking for a link?" I provide citations given that this medication is one of the most studied. When someone says "how can you explain that only one of my three children has this defect so it must be the medication" I show that not only is there an explanation, but it's the expectation. When someone says "All these studies must be wrong because they didn't look at stillbirths" I provide a study that includes a database of 15.5 million births, including stillbirths, as opposed to the anecdote of one. The problem, of course, is that none of these studies show what people on this site want them to show. However just because you can make a snowball in D.C. in March doesn't mean that the planet isn't warming. The difference between science theory and belief is that theory tries to explain facts and can test the theory whereas belief is satisfied to ignore the facts.

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