Cytotec Injuries and Medication Errors

Cytotec Injuries and Medication Errors: Your Rights Under the Law

Cytotec (misoprostol) is a drug used to address stomach ulcers. However, it can also be used off-label to induce labor. The FDA has not approved this drug for medical management of miscarriage and induced abortion. When administering the drug mainly to address gastric ulcers, the doctor must first know if the patient is pregnant or not.

What Is Cytotec?

Cytotec, though used to treat ulcers, can sometimes be used for labor induction. What it does is it lines the stomach by lowering the acid that comes into contact with it.

Commonly, it is used to reduce the gastric ulcer caused by taking NSAID or non-steroidal inflammatory drugs. However, when you combine it with mifepristone, a drug used to block cortisol, and administer it to a pregnant woman, it may cause abortion, birth defects, and premature labor.

Other side effects of Cytotec include:

When Cytotec is administered vaginally, its effect on the patient is immediate, and it is hard to discontinue once side effects start to show. If given to a pregnant woman, the following could happen:

When these complications happen, it may cause harm to the unborn baby. These may cause brain damage and hemorrhage, which may lead to disabilities such as cerebral palsy. In extreme cases, complications may even lead to the death of both the mother and the baby.

Uses Of Cytotec

Cytotec has the generic name misoprostol, a synthetic prostaglandin E1. When taken, misoprostol can induce labor and cause miscarriage. Although Cytotec is marketed as an anti-ulcer drug taken with NSAIDs, it as an off-label drug used by some doctors for medical abortion.

As mentioned above, this drug makes the cervix thinner by ripening it, which results in contractions. Cytotec, which can do permanent damage to the mother and baby, has not been approved by the FDA as an abortive drug. On the contrary, the FDA has issued warnings against the use of the drug by doctors to induce labor.

When used in inducing labor, Cytotec can cause the following side effects:

In using Cytotec for labor induction, small doses are usually administered vaginally as a cervical ripening agent.  Once it is administered, the effects cannot be mitigated nor discontinued.

No medication can reduce the contractions in the mother’s uterus. The body absorbs Cytotec right away, and once it is inside the body, it is difficult to predict the effect on both the mother and the baby. When complications arise, there may be a need to perform an emergency C-section.

When Cytotec is given to women over the age of 35 who have undergone a C-section or any surgery in the uterus, it can be riskier and more dangerous.

Cytotec and Birth Defects and Injuries

The use of Cytotec when pregnant links to several birth injuries. The mother may undergo uterine hyperstimulation and rupture, which can be harmful both to the mother and the baby.

Some of the birth defects and injuries associated with Cytotec are:

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