Posted: 01 Jan 2010 08:56 PM PST

A new public/private research program will study the effects of prescription medications used during pregnancy, U.S. researchers say.

The researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the HMO Research Network Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics, Kaiser Permanente's multiple research centers and Vanderbilt University say very few clinical trials test the safety of medications in pregnancy although one study finds two-thirds of women delivering a baby have taken at least one prescription medication during pregnancy. The Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program will address that research gap, they say.

"This program is a great example of FDA and the private sector working together to improve the health of pregnant women and their children," Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration, said in a statement. "These data will guide regulatory policy and influence medical practice."

To overcome the challenges presented by the lack of clinical trial data about the use of medications during pregnancy, the research program will link healthcare information for mothers and their babies from 11 participating research sites -- a total of about 1 million births during the past seven years since 2001.

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FDA to Study Safety of Drugs Taken During Pregnancy - ABC News

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 01:49 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials plan to study the safety of medications taken during pregnancy with an eye toward using the data in future regulations and medical practice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.

Citing a lack of clinical trials to determine how medications affect mothers and unborn children, the FDA said it will collaborate with other researchers in the new study, called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program.

The agency said data shows that about two-thirds of women who deliver a baby have taken at least one prescription medication during pregnancy.

"Results of these studies will provide valuable information for patients and physicians when making decisions about medication during pregnancy," Gerald Dal Pan, a director at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

The program will work off of data from 11 health plan-affiliated research sites that have healthcare information for about 1 million births over a seven-year period started in 2001.

The FDA did not give a timeline for when the program will complete the safety study.

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Pregnancy an offense?? - Army.com

Posted: 02 Jan 2010 02:21 PM PST

I am surprised it isn't being talked about. Maybe I missed everyone's big debate on this old news. If not, what are people's thoughts on this. I personally agree with the direction.

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Article was found on ABC website
A high-ranking Army official's new policy making pregnancy among troops in Iraq an offense punishable by court-martial is raising eyebrows, even though experts say he is well within his rights to do so. Military experts say Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III is well within his rights to punish soldiers for becoming pregnant or getting a woman pregnant under his command.

According to the Nov. 4 general order of Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III, a commander in northern Iraq, the punishment would apply not only to the female soldiers who become pregnant, but also to the male soldiers who impregnate them, even if the couple is married.

Cucolo told ABC News that the policy, believed to be the first of its kind, was necessary to avoid losing valuable troops in his 22,000-member command.

"I need every soldier I've got, especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission. Anyone who leaves this fight earlier than the expected 12-month deployment creates a burden on their teammates," he said in a statement.

"Anyone who leaves this fight early because they made a personal choice that changed their medical status -- or contributes to doing that to another -- is not in keeping with a key element of our ethos, 'I will always place the mission first,' or three of our seven core values: loyalty, duty and selfless service," he continued. "And I believe there should be negative consequences for making that personal choice. "

The pregnancy policy is just one provision in a larger general order that also prohibits soldiers from sexual contact with Iraqis or third-party nationals who are not members of coalition forces.

Provisions in the Nov. 4 order are also applicable to civilians under Cucolo's command.

"I do not expect those who have never served in the military to completely understand what I have tried to explain above," Cucolo wrote. "Recently I was asked, 'Don't you think you are treading on an intensely personal topic?' As intensely personal as this topic might be, leaving those who depend on you shorthanded in a combat zone gets to be personal for those left, too."

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