Bendectin And Birth Defects (Page 8)

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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Cheers from Western Australia Alexa, and sweet dreams. It's only 2:33pm Sun here. From all that I've managed to glean off the Net inter alia, it seems to me that Dow was very parsimonious with the information concerning Bendectin that they supplied to your FDA and courts of law.

It's an unfortunate truth that only the victors get to write history, but then wars are usually comprised of more than just one theatre...and as the Bard said..."All the world's a stage...", and the beauty is that we never know just who is 'casting' their eyes over these posts!

Dow may be just trying to paper over the cracks...but there's always room for extras...read all about it!

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Any one that has commented on women with multiple cervixes, do you mind my asking, have they got flat chests? Facial hair? One eye a little off? Deformed teeth/ no enamel, just wondering? Not looking to blame anyone for my problems I feel a little comfort in knowing I am not a complete alien... Until the outrage hits me....

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Cheers hanni. I'd suggest that it's your outrage that makes you just as human as the rest of us, although there are myriad ways that outrage can manifest itself if given free rein.

We really don't know what constitutes the make-up of a perfect* human being c'OZ' we're all different in some way yet we're all still perfect creations in our own right. Even Narcissus only got to see what he looked like from the front. Upon reflection, if he'd had eyes in the back of his head he may have got a slightly better perspective of things, which methinks he needed to...c'OZ' he certainly had a lot of front. And still waters run deep...as they finally did for him.

I guy I know purchased a brand new large truck of Japanese manufacture circa 20 years ago. He ordered that the new truck come with a specific type of motor as there were several options. He used this truck for many years without any major problem whatsoever and he did all the servicing of it himself. He looked after it very well. When came the time to put a complete new motor in it, he ordered another motor of exactly the same type as he had done originally, only to find that the wonderful motor he'd been using for many years and had given him great service all the while was not of the type he'd ordered. Now he was in a bind. When told by the supplier that he'd be getting the new motor free of charge anyway, because the supplier had messed up with the original order, he chose to take another one of the same type as the one he'd been using, because he'd become accustomed [no pun] to it, but they didn't have one ready, as they now only had one of the type that should have been supplied with the truck in the first place, [not unlike a drug that should only do what it's prescribed to do, and nothing else, but even they (drugs) take liberties, and sometimes worse besides, like life itself!] He said that they could put the motor in that they had ready and he'd give it a go, but if he wasn't happy with it they'd have to exchange it for the one he preferred, and he wanted a refund [read: compensation] on the money he'd paid for the original motor that was factored into the purchase price of the whole truck, and they complied. He then started to check every major component of the truck to see if he could unearth any other anomalies. As one does. It pay$ to check these things out___of pocket!

*Many years ago, somewhere in the USA, two men who'd been at loggerheads for quite some time, as to just what constituted the anatomy of a perfect man's physique, finally agreed on all the measurements that composed this 'wonderful' creature...except for one, so, since they were so close to bringing this conceptual creation to fruition, they finally and wisely agreed that they should consult Honest Abe Lincoln to help put them out of their misery. They asked him: "Abe, how long should a man's legs be?" His answer, "They should be long enough to reach the ground!"

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Hi Hanni,
I have been affected by the drug Bendectin. Sorry to hear that you may have been too. You can contact me if you would like to chat some more.

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Hi Alexa,
You can't imagine how badly I want to "get those creeps". About a month ago someone created a facebook group and said they were trying to retain a lawyer to fight for the victims of Bendectin. There have been no updates to the page. I would really like to pursue this. I just don't know where to begin....

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Hi, Togal: Have had some internet problems...about the Facebook page, maybe a little more time and it will be updated--who knows. In the meantime, sounds like we'll be 'spinning our wheels' and maybe no lawyer will take this on at this point in time and consider it a 'dead issue.' Well, I guess to the people who have suffered, it is surely far from 'dead.' Will try to research some more on it and find other places on the net and elsewhere who perhaps help. Do you know of the studies done by the experts that do show that the problems have a causal relationship to Bendectin? As, I've 'said,' will try and look for more places for any more answers/help and get back to this forum when I can. in the meantime, hang in there---what else can anyone do now but hope and pray that we find answers to what has caused these problems, if it isn't Bendectin, what exactly is it that has? This whole 'exercise' is about the suffering that, obviously, from which there is some cause and it is not about a 'witch hunt' just to 'get DOW,' but to get some answers, some resolution and that these kinds of problems do not occur in the future. But, let's face it; these abnormalities or 'birth defects' have had a great negative financial impact on the families affected, so our goal should be to get answers, find the cause, and, yes, to hold whoever is liable for these damages and to get financial compensation for these real costs borne by the victims. Onward and upward! Will 'be back' when I can. Oh, one more victim I have found--a girlfriend of my dear friend's daughter has discovered during an OB exam (pregnant) that she has a double cervix and her womb is split in two, separated by a membrane and her Mom took Bendectin during her pregnancy! Just yet another "coincidence!?"

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I'll sit tight for a bit longer and hope the facebook page gets updated. Otherwise I will pursue it on my own. I think there are enough people on here whose health has been affected that can come together to make a strong case.

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Listen here I am not saying that any time any child is born with defects, the maker of bendectine is to blame. I just am positive of the fact that if you ask every woman and child that was affected by bendectine being prescribed for nausea, that all will have very similar instances of afflictions to the children that were in the womb when the bendectine was taken. Families with other children will likely not have the same problems. Just love to see a study done on all past users of the medication and the results, well you get it!?

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Ok so you like to sidestep the REAL issue and talk in riddles and such but imma put it down real simple for ya right here. No not every child born with abnormalities can point a finger at the anti nausea 'medication' but.... You can bet your butt that out of all the women prescribed it, the kids in the family that were subjected to bendectine, debendox, or dilectin all have a similar bunch of problems almost in harmony the side effects would scream out... We aren't like our siblings, something is wrong with that not being acknowledged

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I also took bendictine in 1976/1977. My 33 year old daughter was diagnosed last year with rhuematoid arthritits and has an auto-immune disease. Her life has been a constant round of specialist ansd it took a year to diagnose her. I had read that this type of autoimmune is very prevalent amoung women in their late 20's to early 30's. This aroused my suspicion of drug related medical problems with children wgose mother took this anti-nausea drug. I would appreciate any info from parents whose daughter/son has auto-immune disease. would also like to know of any studies or lawsuits. Thank you.

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I would like to know where the facebok page is and will help in any way I can to bring this to a just and fair conclusion. This drug has caused real heartache and financial strain. I appreciate the info I have read here today as I was nor quite sure where to begin. Thank you all.

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Shanie writes about "side stepping" and "speaking in riddles". Not sure at whom that was aimed? Also asks about doing studies. Well the studies have been done - lots of them. This is from Kutcher, Engle, et al at the U. of Michigan 2003: "Bendectin was the primary pharmaceutical treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) in the United States until the early 1980s. Its manufacture was then discontinued after public allegations that it was causing birth defects. Subsequently, meta-analyses of the many epidemiological cohort and case/control studies used to examine that hypothesis have demonstrated the absence of a detectable teratogenic effect. This study presents an ecological analysis of the same hypothesis that examines specific malformations.
The temporal trends in prevalence rates for specific birth defects examined from 1970 through 1992 did not show changes that reflected the cessation of Bendectin use over the 1980-84 period. Further, the NVP hospitalization rate doubled when Bendectin use ceased"
Meta-analysis is a way of pulling together multiple studies to gain a larger pool and sometimes demonstrate a difference where none was perceived to exist because the numbers were too small. But even with the meta-analysis no effect from Bendictin was found. So this was another way of examing the question - did the rate of birth defects change after Bendectin was pulled off the market? Answer: no. But hospitilization for complications in pregnancy due to vomiting doubled since it was discontiued.

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I was pregnant with identical twin boys in '74 and took this drug almost the entire time as I was horribly sick. One son was only 3SVLVlbs1oz. and we lost him after about a hour due to his lungs. My other son was 6lbs. 3oz. He was in intensive care for a week due to a defect in his heart. He is 37 now but still has a bad heart, able to work but I too wonder if there is a connection.

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Some folk post a comment as nothing more than a veritable rant, and that's ok, as we all have our crosses to bear, although a seemingly innocuous rant -- especially if it's unwittingly interlarded with statistics and personal experiences, or even hearsay -- has the capacity to easily obfuscate an extremely important issue at hand. But only if one permits it to do so, by buying into it. Caveat emptor!

I'll show you one very simple example which may be interpreted as exactly the same thing which occurs with 'Chinese Whispers'. I will even accept that I may be incorrect with my assumption, but I urge the folk who are truly interested, to have a look at it. Here goes...

Comment number #143 was posted by a 'hanni'. I responded in part to a 'hanni' in my post, being #144. Several posts later, two posts, being #149 and #150, a 'shannie' appears, and do take particular note, both 'hanni' and 'shannie' present in lower case alphabetical lettering. Now we proceed straight thru to emtridoc's #154 where, apart from emtridoc not being sure at whom the 'sidestepping' and 'talking in riddles' is aimed at, emtridoc responds to a 'Shanie'. So, what began [from my take on it all] as 'hanni', is now 'Shanie' [Q.E.D.]. One could say that 'hanni', as in 'hannibal', has now been 'cannibalised', into 'Shanie' [Dr Lecter, eat your heart out!] in an uncanni [sic] kind of way! And yes, if I so wish, I can even get 'Clarice' from 'Shanie'! It may have been easy to silence the lambs, but not so easy to silence persons having diligent concern with Debendox/Bendectin/Diclectin.

Now, my proposal is simply this, if we cannot preserve something that is quite simple to do, like a person's [or drug's] name, -- and remember that 'hanni' himself/herself altered it into 'shannie', before it became 'Shanie' -- what hope do we embrace of ever eking out anything of worth concerning this putatively-complex situation, now known wistfully as the 'Bendectin/Debendox/Diclectin' debacle writ large?

emtridoc, it's my firm belief that "shannie's" 'sidestep' and 'talk in riddles' is directed at me, as further in the same post is mentioned the triumvirated 'Bendectine, Debendox and Dilectin' [shannie's spelling, not mine].

I make a deliberate habit of triumvirating the three (3) brand names in comment simply because someone may not be familiar with, say, Bendectin, Debendox or Diclectin alone. I did read of another brand name somewhere which was something like 'Lenofan?' or 'Lenafon?' Don't forget that this teratogenic issue, inter alia, is of international concern, and as far as I'm aware, Bendectin [sold in the USA] wasn't sold here in Australia and the United Kingdom et al.. Debendox was, and I understand Canada copped it for Diclectin. It's very strange that the same drug was/is marketed under so many different names yet Coca Cola seems to get by quite admirably, in a marketing sense, with but only one.

By implementing a multiplicity of names, it's very easy for a company to protect its parent name if something goes wrong, exactly the same as a commenter changing their profile's name or their avatar. And when they get other commenters assisting them in doing this along the way, it's a mere blogger's bagatelle, and just like the aforementioned 'Chinese Whispers', they can just sit back and enjoy the free ride, with no worry of having to face any accountability. Sound familiar?

Folk may also be interested to download information on Dr William Griffith McBride, the Australian gynecologist and obstetrician who was responsible for discovering the effects of the drug called thalidomide. He was also of the firm view that Debendox caused teratogenic result.

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But ILP why would you be acused of "side-stepping"? It's true your prose may sometimes take wide turns, but you don't avoid the question. My thoughts, anyway.

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I have posted under both my own name, shannie, and my daughter, hannie whom also is a victim of the pill my mother took. She was born with no enamel on her teeth as well. I was under the assumption this was a community forum for people to discuss the drug, not japanese engines for trucks. But surely you have some interest in the topic for some reason so do go on... Ill be checking regularly, can hardly wait for your two cents.

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Cheers emtridoc and shannie/hannie. Yes, I can agree my posts may present tangentially to some folk, who think that once the wagons are circled then anything outside is on its own recall, although any perceived thematic aberration per se is not nearly quite as debilitating as teratogenicity's manifestation.

shannie, you're correct that this forum's for folk's foraging for information about the drug Bendectin/Debendox/Diclectin, although the present paucity of posts makes one wonder! Do ponder though, that, 'sometimes', as proven, the longest way round is the quickest way there, whether one can only hitch a ride in a Japanese-engined truck or not. I humbly request a discount on my having to stump-up 2 whole cents too, c'OZ' I do believe that the Aussie dollar'$ now got the edge on the Greenback! But if you'll kindly hold about several 100ths of a cent in escrow for me, I'll not belabour the point, but a written I.O.U. would be so much the better perhap_s'crip. I've always desired to own something in the State$! It could give me just the leverage I need to start taking Bernanke to task! The word 'scrip' applies equally well to a shareholding in a company [ the US of A too? I can spell Uncle Sam with the best of 'em!] as it does to a medicinal prescription. And from there, it could be just a short step away from our seeing a certain pharmaceutical company's Dow_n and out for the count!

One thing that can't be disputed is that there are people online who're reading these posts very carefully, even if they're deemed to not stay on track or they're unable to read between the lines of comment. 'Vertical' thinking has its place, but so too does that of 'lateral'. Dr Edward de Bono has personally solved many an issue, but it's thought he's done far better, dinted diasporal, by teaching others how to address a problem [which may not really be one as it turns out sometimes!], just like the person who teaches another how to fish instead of just giving him a day's fish-feed. Shades of: "So what's the angle?"

emtridoc, I do favour 'exegesis', and have known for quite a while that it can pay dividends for my fellow folk, even those with a penchant for shooting the messenger, c'OZ' they're predominantly the ones in dire need of succour, as evinced by the vitriol of their hard-hearted h_arm'oury. As regards your perceiving my not evading the question, I can say that I'm ever mindful of it [ and myriad others], given that, I firmly believe that I too am a recipient of teratogenicity, but not to an extent that I'll permit it to consume my every waking moment. I can appreciate that many folk desire quick-fix answers to a problem that's niggling them, but Rome wasn't built in a day. The veritable mentor doesn't give easy answers but instead assists those inquisitive to deepen their questions [c'OZ' there be the answer!], c'OZ' prima facie, the initial question is but the precursor to the floodgate's breaching. There's a lot that the 'enfant terrible' can do to further 'the' cause, than merely persist in being a causation to its conundrum, no question!

Consider this rhetorical question too: What if a drug company was fully cognisant or even only slightly suspicious that their drug was teratogenic and may need to be pulled from the shelves. Rather than pull it immediately [which could, with time's passing, prove teratogenicity beyond all doubt], they decide to -- especially if they knew which particular part was definitively causing the teratogenicity, or even most likely to be the culprit -- just preclude the suspected pernicious part's inclusion to the complement making up the drug, and continue selling it at will. If no one has any of the original drug to provide probative evidence in a court of law, then statistics will show that the now innocuous drug's removal or continued sale to the public doesn't show any worth of litigation [even by the FDA], solely due to the fact that -- and most importantly for said pregnant Mums/Moms and their precious bundles, but nonetheless mercenarily either for said drug company's bottom line -- all, or sufficiently acceptable [by the regulators] perniciousness or teratogenicity has been removed.

Moot point is simply this: How easy is it for research into any subject whatsoever to be corrupted, contaminated, call it what you will, even when the corruption's done completely unwittingly and entirely unintentionally? Now consider the same case except with the perpetrator(s) having fervent and unrelenting endeavour to perform a dastardly but highly remunerative [read: Billion$] task. They might even be in need of a serviceable Japanese-engined truck to haul the filthy lucre away!

We're maintaining a vigil_ante!

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emtridoc, I would like to know who conducted the "meta-analysis" on Bendectin. If it was Dow, then it has very little merit in my eyes.

On a side note, (s)hannie, I wish this forum would be a place to voice our concerns and share our experiences about the drug. Unfortunately, it's an open forum and people are entitled to write whatever they want and the way they want to write it.

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The CEO (Michael Pearson, a former McKinsey & Co consultant) of Canadian company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, is reported in Stephen Bartholomeusz's column in 'Business Spectator', as saying that, "R&D spending works only for the larger firms and on average R&D spending doesn't produce positive returns." The article also says, "Pearson's philosophy since taking the helm of Valeant in 2008 has been to acquire companies with established drugs and to slash their R&D programs". Begging the question, so why does, or should, any pharmaceutical company bother to undertake diligent R&D, if any of them do so at all, or wish to be even suspected of doing such? Methinks this approach of Pearson's will positively show negative return in the long run. It appears that he's p_un'aware of the ease with which one can get more b_ang'st for their buck_ing the tr_end'game.

Mr Michael Moore, or someone of that ilk, may one day opt to return the vestiges of a prescribed and decidedly-disliked pharmaceutical product to its manufacturing company's CEO. A simple Development such as this could initiate requisite complex Research.

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Togal, I can't agree with the premise of your finale in #160. I posted a somewhat lengthy composition several days ago and it's not yet featured. It may never do so simply c'OZ' its content may rankle a bowdler with an axe to grind. But man is not an island, nor so this forum.

'If by traduction came thy mind,
Our wonder is the less to find
A soul so charming from a stock so good.'
- Dryden

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