TORONTO, Ontario, Canada--Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for
Sick Children (HSC) and several hospitals in Brazil have
determined that a drug commonly used for the treatment and
prevention of ulcers causes a significant birth defect if taken
during pregnancy. The drug, misoprostol, joins an international
list of approximately 24 medications proven to cause birth
defects. The research is reported in the June 25 issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine. "Our research determined that
misoprostol causes a congenital facial paralysis known as Mobius
syndrome," explains lead researcher Anne Pastuszak, MSc, of
HSC's Motherisk program and director of the University of
Toronto Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Centre. "The drug is not
recommended for use in pregnancy because it may stimulate
uterine contractions and cause vaginal bleeding and
miscarriage." It is these side effects that prompt some
Brazilian women to take misoprostol--which is available over the
counter in Brazil but only by prescription in Canada--i