Women's health group launches campaign on risks of drug used in egg retrieval

Posted by Marcy Darnovsky December 8, 2008
Biopolitical Times
An article in the December newsletter of the National Women's Health Network sounds an alarm about significant problems caused by the drug Lupron. Despite thousands of reports to the FDA of serious adverse reactions, Lupron is still being prescribed both for FDA-approved uses - prostate cancer in men and endometriosis and fibroids in women - and for "off-label" uses - shutting down the ovaries of women whose eggs are being retrieved either for their own or someone else's fertility treatment.

The article by Susan K. Flinn includes the stories of women who have contacted NWHN asking it to investigate the drug. Their stories are similar, Flinn reports: These women were healthy before using Lupron, but after using it they had serious symptoms that persisted for months or years. And despite thousands of adverse reactions reported to the FDA, neither the agency nor Lupron's manufacturer have indicated any interest in investigating the drug.

The NWHN is calling for
a concerted effort of women, physicians, health officials, researchers and media. The people who are considering taking Lupron are the ones who have the right to know that they are risking a lifetime of symptoms that may cost them their jobs, spouses, savings and quality of life.
Toward those ends, NWHN is initiating an educational and policy campaign "to get the word out about the misuse and dangers of Lupron® and other drugs," and together with Our Bodies Ourselves, the Center for Medical Consumers, and the Endometriosis Association, is about to launch The Informed Rx Decision-Making Consortium.