“Paxil risk ignored, jury told - Philadelphia Daily News” plus 4 more

Paxil risk ignored, jury told - Philadelphia Daily News
Why pregnancy creates mother of all athletes - The Sun
Sad pregnancy news puts burden on husband - Austin American-Statesman
Alcohol-fuelled sex leading to STIs and pregnancy - In the News
Proposed reforms not one-size-fits-all - NorthJersey.com

Paxil risk ignored, jury told - Philadelphia Daily News

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 08:18 AM PDT

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. for years ignored evidence that its antidepressant Paxil may have caused birth defects, a lawyer told a Philadelphia jury yesterday on behalf of a woman who says that taking the drug during her pregnancy caused her 3-year-old son's heart problems.

London-based Glaxo, which employs several thousand in the Philadelphia region, also told its scientists to avoid disclosing possible risks associated with the drug's use by pregnant women, said the lawyer, Sean Tracey.

Tracey represents Bensalem resident Michelle David, a former cheerleader for the Philadelphia 76ers, who is making the claim for her son, Lyam Kilker. The boy appeared briefly in the courtroom yesterday.

GlaxoSmithKline's lawyer Chilton Varner said there is no evidence that Paxil caused Lyams's heart problems.

The case is being heard by Judge Stephen Levin in Common Pleas Court.

Tracey said that in early tests, rats administered the drug were more likely to have pups that didn't survive past four days.

In the late 1980s, an internal Glaxo scientist warned that "there remains the possibility" that Paxil could cause birth defects at higher doses," according to one document Tracey displayed. Tracey said Glaxo had avoided for 20 years finding out why the rats died.

The trial is the first of more than 600 cases alleging that Glaxo knew Paxil caused birth defects and hid those risks to pump up profits. Approved for U.S. use in 1992, the drug generated $942 million in sales last year, 2.1 percent of Glaxo's total sales.

Glaxo lawyer Varner said the company reported any sign of problems to federal authorities. She accused Tracey of cherry-picking sentences from documents. When jurors see all the evidence, she said, they will realize "Paxil has been tested in trials as much as any drug ever."

Varner also said that even though Lyam was hospitalized for five months after his birth and underwent surgeries to repair his heart, the boy today "has no cardiac symptoms . . . is at preschool and runs and walks like a 4-year-old should."

Tracey said Lyam eventually will need another surgery. He also painted Glaxo as consistently denying problems with one of its best-selling drugs.

By 1997, the company received reports of 50 miscarriages or intrauterine deaths. When Glaxo studied whether there was a connection between Paxil and birth defects, its scientists called the number of cases an "alarming finding." But they did not include those words in the final version of the report or give the report to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, even though it was required to do so, Tracey said.

Also in 1997, GSK executive Bonnie Rossello wrote a memo saying that if the company had to conduct animal studies it could "bury" negative results, Tracey said.

Tracey said that in 2001, after a woman reported to Glaxo that she had been taking Paxil and had terminated her pregnancy because of birth defects, company scientists said they were "almost certain" that Paxil had caused the birth defects. But GSK did not tell the woman or the FDA that, Tracey told the courtroom.

"What they did next was nothing," he said.

The FDA initially classified Paxil as a drug with no known connections to birth defects. In 2005, the agency reclassified it as a drug with some evidence of human fetal risk but allowed doctors to continue prescribing the drug to women of childbearing age if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Contact staff writer Miriam Hill at 215-854-5520 or millmb@phillynews.com.

This article contains information from Bloomberg News.

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Why pregnancy creates mother of all athletes - The Sun

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 06:41 PM PDT

TENNIS star Kim Clijsters' US Open triumph was a great victory for mums everywhere.

The 26-year-old Belgian, who retired from the game two years ago, is mum to 18-month-old Jada.

But, with her sensational Grand Slam comeback win at the weekend, she proved that having a baby can be good for your body.

Mums know best ... Paula Radcliffe and daughter Isla
after winning the New York marathon in 2007

Conception triggers a host of changes. This starts with an increased oxygen supply for the mother, in order to support the rapid growth of the embryo inside the womb.

Hormones released after an egg is fertilised send signals to the heart and lungs, prompting them to grow in strength.

A woman's aerobic capacity increases - and this continues long after birth, so that a new mum has the energy to take care of her new arrival.

And Kim is not the first sportswoman to excel after having a child. Brit Paula Radcliffe won the New York marathon in 2007, ten months after having baby girl Isla.

Kenyan runner Catherine Ndereba broke world records in both the 5,000m and 15,000m in 1998, a year after giving birth. And last month Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew won the Women's British Open when her second daughter was ten weeks old. Consultant obstetrician Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said that pregnancy causes many extraordinary changes to the body.

Some women's feet grow during pregnancy - anything from half a shoe size to a full shoe size bigger with each baby. And in some cases, the women's feet never return to their original size.

This is because hormones that help relax the pelvis to get it ready for birth also loosen ligaments in the feet.

Stronger

Mr O'Brien added: "Swelling and weight gain play a role, too. As women get heavier, added body weight flattens their arches, making their feet spread to a larger size."

Hormones progesterone and relaxin cause ligaments to relax and many women notice that they feel stronger.

You also get better blood flow during the nine months of pregnancy, which increases aerobic capacity by around ten per cent.

This means you will find doing exercise easier - and if you're already near the top you might become a world beater.

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Sad pregnancy news puts burden on husband - Austin American-Statesman

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 06:27 PM PDT

CAROLYN HAX: TELL ME ABOUT IT

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Dear Carolyn:My wife is a private person. I hear "Everyone has their own problems, so they don't need to be burdened with mine" at least once a week. Normally I would think this is a good attitude, except for the problem we found out about recently: The consensus of several doctors is that a pregnancy would kill her.

We have always wanted children and this is a terrible blow to us both. She doesn't want to tell anyone even though we are constantly asked by family and friends: "So when are you going to have a baby?" I think they have a right to know so we aren't getting badgered, but she doesn't want "pity" or "advice" and feels she needs to handle it in her own way. What's your opinion?

— Boston

Dear Boston:Your wife is entitled to handle it in her own way, but so are you. And if your way is to share your news, then, out of respect for you and your marriage, she owes it to you to release her grip on this difficult information.

Certainly, because it is her marriage, too, and specifically her health at issue, your right to tell others is limited; it's not so simple as her choosing not to tell and your choosing to tell and everyone living happily ever after. Out of respect for her sense of privacy, you'll need to confide only in a select few whose support you prefer and whose discretion you trust.

In fact, it won't even be as simple as asserting your right to grieve, even on these limited terms. If you subject her rationale to a cursory sniff test, you'll see that calling her a "private person" is a euphemism. "They don't need to be burdened" with her problems? She doesn't want their "pity" or "advice"? Really?

What about their love, their support, their empathy, their understanding, their creative thinking, their invitations to a movie/play/barbecue/sporting event to nudge you gently out of the depths and into the day-to-day light? What if her loved ones care about her, want to be burdened, want to be included? What if they don't want to be served a smiling cardboard facsimile of her emotional state?

If your wife doesn't trust anyone to provide her any useful emotional responses, then she doesn't trust anyone, period. That's not privacy, that's fear, and insecurity that runs deep. She'd rather feel lonely and in control than take any of the risks involved with being close to other people — the risk of losing control, of learning there's an inch of her psyche that she can't fully protect.

If I'm reading her correctly, then it was probably all she could do to trust you, and even then I suspect she shares only a limited picture with you, reluctantly and out of a sense of necessity.

This is the woman you love, and whose philosophy on "burdens" you seem to respect. I'm not interested in changing these, nor will she change except of her own volition. I'm simply suggesting that you're mistaking fear for courage. For your emotional health and hers, please try to discriminate between burdening others, and simply letting them in.

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Alcohol-fuelled sex leading to STIs and pregnancy - In the News

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 04:11 PM PDT

Thursday, 17, Sep 2009 12:03

By inthenews.co.uk staff.

Alcohol and sex are a dangerous combination leading to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STI), a campaign is warning.

Sexual health charity, the Family Planning Association (fpa), have launched a campaign to warn people to enjoy sex responsibly, coinciding with the release of their research.

The results from an online survey by Ipsos MORI, on behalf of fpa, found 37 per cent of people admitted they had had sex with a new partner without using a condom, and of this amount 40 per cent said alcohol had been a factor in what had happened.

The charity hopes to encourage greater public recognition that alcohol can and does influence sexual decision making, and as part of their campaign, fpa will be distributing bold posters across the UK.

Julie Bentley chief executive of fpa said: "People don't go out to take risks, they go out to have a good time. People may start with the best intentions, but drinking alcohol reduces the chances of using a condom with someone new and impairs sexual decision making.

"fpa isn't here to tell people how much they should or shouldn't drink. Our point is that you're more likely to take chances with your sexual health if you've drunk alcohol."

The survey, released today, of 1,002 people aged between 18 and 30, found 38 per cent of all respondents said 'I have taken part in sexual activity with someone and then regretted it later', and staggering 70 per cent of these said alcohol was a factor in what happened.

The survey also found people were more likely to sleep with someone they didn't find attractive when they had been drinking alcohol.

Among the group who had not used a condom with a new partner and said they thought alcohol was a factor in the decision (15 per cent of all respondents in total), one in eight (13 per cent) reported on at least one occasion they or the person they had sex with became pregnant, unplanned. Another seven per cent of them said that they had contracted a STI.

Some 83 per cent surveyed agreed with the statement: 'In general people are less likely to use a condom or other contraception when they have sex if they have been drinking alcohol'. However, only 40 per cent agreed that: 'I am less likely to use a condom or other contraception when I have sex if I have been drinking alcohol'.

"Drunken sex is often risky sex. Don't let one night of fun end in regret," concluded Ms Bentley.

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Proposed reforms not one-size-fits-all - NorthJersey.com

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 10:37 PM PDT

Here's a look at how consumers in different circumstances would be affected by the Baucus plan:

* Self-employed head of household.

If anyone is meant to benefit from the plan, it's people who have to scramble to find and keep coverage because they work for themselves, not a large employer.

Baucus would eliminate onerous insurance practices, such as denial of coverage due to a pre-existing health problem. But subsidies in the plan may not be enough to make coverage affordable for all middle-class families, who would be required under the bill to carry insurance.

* Senior covered by Medicare.

Seniors would get a 50 percent discount on medications if they fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefits.

Medicare recipients also would get a free annual wellness visit with their doctor, to focus on ways to stay healthier. Coverage for end-of-life counseling, which caused an uproar when it was included in the House bill, isn't part of the Baucus plan. Coverage for preventive care would be expanded.

* Single woman in her 20s.

People in their 20s would be required to get coverage and pay into the pool. But depending on income, they'd be eligible for new subsidies. They'd also have the option of buying a lower-cost plan, tailored to those 25 and under, which would cover mainly preventive care and catastrophic medical costs.

Insurers would not be allowed to charge women more because of gender. Health care plans would have to cover prenatal care and pregnancy, but not most abortions.

* Immigrants.

The plan would let legal immigrants get federal subsidies for health insurance but would bar benefits for those here illegally. U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants — who are considered citizens under the law — would be eligible for benefits. Baucus has called for a verification system to make sure that no subsidies go to illegal immigrants.

— The Associated Press

Pregnancy

Wednesday, September 16, 2009