first trimester tetratogenicity "likelyhood"?

[jeff81]

i read the blogs,mfg info and warnings against pregnancy,the registry and 3rd party opinions. but no where do i see,based on pregnancies "known" to date,what the "likelyhood" that a full term pregnancy will result in birth defects,or that miscarriage will occur.just a lot of extrapolating,pontificating,speculating.after all,this med has been used for some time now,pregnancies have occured,babies have been born(or not).any resources showing real time, "to date" data links would be appreciated. i have a family member,3 weeks in treatment,now pregnant.

[lakegirl26]

Okay don't get me wrong here sex is great and everything but how about just not having sex for a little while. I mean it's only about a year of a persons life without. For me personally I would rather give it up for however long it took to get treated then to bring a child into the world knowingly or on accident with any kind of birth defect. Because most likely that child will have to struggle most of thier life to even try to live a somewhat normal life. Children are one of the most wonderful blessings that the good Lord can see fit to give us and it is our duty to give them the best start in life that we possibly can. But that's just my opinion.                  Jen

[can-do-man]

"......unless of course you give birth to a hampster :) "

Is there something up there in the water that causes that???

[willbb]

Thus far, there have been no documented cases of birth defects or miscarriage as a direct result of Riba administration;...

......unless of course you give birth to a hampster :)

[eureka254]

Ribavirin's pregnancy warnings exist because of an increase in birth defects in certain laboratory experiments, specifically in hamsters and mice.  It appeared to interfere with the embryonic development process in certain lab animals; however, ribavirin is not cytotoxic. Nonetheless, your family member should be recommended by her OB to have a targeted anatomical ultrasound to address the medication exposures.

Thus far, there have been no documented cases of birth defects or miscarriage as a direct result of Riba administration; case reports actually document women and men who had successful pregnancies despite riba exposure:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdra.20682/abstract

Hope that helps, and best of luck you your family member.

[nygirl7]

that the physician is (under the law) a "learned intermediary" between the pharma company and patient and is responsible to determine if the patient has any contraindication, such as pregnancy, before prescribing the meds

From a top notch Doctor of law directly.

[curiouslady1]

I think we are going way out there and almost assuming that there was no in office education re the infection and the treatment.  It almost feels like we are all too ready to pin it on the doc.  She was already pregnant when she started treatment evidently and just found out.  Perhaps she didn't pick up her meds. right away from the pharmacy.  Is the first dosing always in the office?  If not, she could have started her treatment any time after it was prescribed.   It wouldn't have happened in my trial because all women of child bearing age have to get pregnancy tested throughout and we have to take the medicine right in front of the coordinators.  But of course, doing things this way costs the drug companies millions and guess who then pays for these cautions when the drugs finally hit the market?  I just read where a woman who had HepC donated a kidney to her husband.  Sure the hospital is responsible for not double checking but Duh!  Was the woman sleeping under a rock?  According to the article, she was well aware that she had the virus!!! And now they are both suing the hospital!   And what about the case of the woman who said she got HepC from a former prison inmate and sued because the prison should have identified and treated the infection.  What about the ex con?   Doesn't he have a responsibility?  What about her, doesn't she?  This is your next years taxes friends and your next years health care bill, deductible on insurance, co insurance etc.  There are an awful lot of people who just want to stick their heads in the sand about this infection and pretend that it is not there so they don't protect themselves and don't take precautions.  This is not the only disease or malady where people do or don't do such things.  The people on this forum are, it seems, a rare breed who not only want to stay informed but who are courageous enough to treat, sometimes over and over if they have to.  Still, the general public needs to assume some responsibility for monitoring their own behavior and health care.  By the way, ethics, malpractice and incompetence have different meanings.  Mistakes may be grounds for a malpractice suit but they do not necessarily constitute unethical behavior.  It may be unethical to double charge a patient and an insurer but that is not malpractice etc.  Just a vent.