ARTICLES

Sometimes Resulting in Death

Illicit Use of an Ulcer Drug Can Kill You

By Roberto Tejeda

The anti-ulcer drug Cytotec has become notorious in underground circles in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America for its illicit use to provoke abortions -- and for the consquences it often brings to the women who ingest it.

After 19-year-old Maricela Ojendis of Tijuana ingested "various doses" of Cytotec in October (see related story), she began to suffer "great pain and hemorrhaging," which is why her boyfriend, Venustiano Vázquez, took her to the emergency room. Many other women have encountered similar experiences after taking Cytotec. Fortunately for Maricela, physicians at the emergency room in Tijuana were able to save her life. Other women have not been so lucky, although there are no reliable statistics on how many women have died after using Cytotec for abortion.

But the side effects of the drug on pregnant women are known among health care professionals. On August 25, 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued this alert: "Cytotec can cause maternal or fetal death, severe vaginal bleeding, retained placenta, shock, fetal bradycardia and pelvic pain." The Food and Drug Administration also reported at least 35 cases of uterine rupture and 10 cases of infant death as a consequence of Cytotec use.

In 1998, the New England Journal of Medicine warned its readers that use of Cytotec by pregnant women could result in fetal malformation and facial paralysis in infants who survived its use by their mothers.

"Misuse of prescription drugs like Cytotec are quickly replacing dangerous home remedies for abortion, but the results are the same -- women are being hospitalized every day for botched and incomplete abortions," reported Joannah Bharose in an article for Advocates for Safe Parenthood of Trinidad and Tobago. "You can tell immediately who are the women who use Cytotec," Dr. Jehan Ali says in the same article. "They usually over-bleed, with a greater chance of infection, which often leads to acute renal failure, sometimes resulting in death."

"No one is checking on the pharmacists," urologist Dr. Fuad Khan says in the article.

In Tijuana, Cytotec is easy to obtain. Although some pharmacies do not carry it, most of the major ones do and will sell it over the counter. A check of five pharmacies in downtown Tijuana revealed the price ranges from a low of 497 pesos (about $49.70 U.S.) to a high of 710 pesos (about $71 U.S.).

Although the drug is meant to treat gastric ulcers, obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States administer it for the "off-label use" of provoking uterine contractions and "uterine ripening", which makes it easier for the baby to pass through the birth canal. The drug's manufacturer, Searle, has warned doctors not to use it for this purpose, but physicians are reportedly ignoring the warning because the drug is cheaper than approved alternatives and because it allows them to "schedule" childbirths instead of waiting for nature to take its course.

"Cytotec is not approved for the induction of labor or abortion," Searle medical director Dr. Michael Cullen wrote in an August 23, 2000 warning letter issued by the company. "Searle has become aware of some instances where Cytotec, outside of its approved indication, was used as a cervical ripening agent prior to termination of pregnancy, or for induction of labor, in spite of specific contraindications to its use during pregnancy. Serious adverse events reported following off-label use of Cytotec in pregnant women include maternal or fetal death, uterine hyperstimulation, rupture or perforation requiring uterine surgical repair, hysterectomy, amniotic fluid embolism, severe vaginal bleeding, retained placenta, shock, fetal bradycardia and pelvic pain."

Searle noted in the letter that no studies had been conducted on the long-term effects on mothers and babies when Cytotec is administered during pregnancy. "Nor does Searle intend to study or support these uses... Searle promotes the use of Cytotec only for its approved indication."

The July/August 2001 issue of Mothering magazine included a lengthy article detailing the experiences of one woman whose doctor had used Cytotec to induce labor: "Fifty units of whole blood and platelets were required to save her life. When she regained consciousness, she was on a ventilator with a tube down her nose. She remained on the ventilator for five days, in intensive care for seven days, and in the hospital for ten days."

Return to The Crime of Voluntary Abortion.

TOP