Drugs during pregnancy being studied

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.