The risks of Off-label drugs in childbirth

For women and families in Champaign Urbana who are traveling through the pregnancy and childbirth process, the number one priority is to stay healthy and listen to the advice of your doctor.  Champaign Urbana malpractice attorneys at the Holder Law Group understand that delivering a child is a common process with many doctors delivering thousands of children through the course of their career.  This applies to rural hospitals in Central Illinois as well as in metropolitan areas such as Chicago Illinois. However, while it happens every day, it is by no means a completely safe process. Many things can go wrong, and that is only compounded when your doctor makes the conscious decision to take a more risky course of action.

While many women in labor progress normally, and even sometimes quickly, on occasion labor can be a very lengthy process.  It could last for several days and often doctors will seek to speed things up for the best interest of both mother and child. There are dedicated drugs for this process, such as a hormone drip with Oxytocin, but sometimes these don't work as quickly as needed to suite the needs the patient of the doctor. In these situations, some Illinois doctors take the risk and administer off-label drugs not meant for the labor and delivery process. There are several off-label drugs that can help speed up labor, but the most common culprit is misoprostol. In standard use, this is an ulcer drug, but it can also be used to help dilate the cervix.

While the use of Oxytocin itself is the subject of some controversy, the unfortunate reality is that misoprostol is less safe, though popular, and while it may be effective for speeding up the labor process, it can also be dangerous. Using misoprostol for labor runs the risk of causing a uterine rupture. This can cause the mother to hemorrhage and the child to go into distress after life support has been cut off. In these cases, emergency surgery is required, but the mother or the child may not survive.  Incidents such as these do happen across Illinois during childbirth as well.

As some continue to use misoprostol for labor safely, it has not yet begun to face legal action, but using off-label drugs in the birthing process for Illinois mothers can be risky and can lead to medical malpractice cases.   At Holder Law Group, we believe that childbirth is dangerous enough and the medication used to speed up the process should not add to the danger. If you have discovered that they were used in the birth of your child, contact us today. Using drugs not as intended is a very clear case of medical malpractice.

Betsy Holder

Betsy Holder is a Champaign Urbana medical malpractice Lawyer with vast experience in Birth Injury Cases.