Terbutaline was originally approved for usage by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of asthma symptoms. It acts to relax muscles. It has never been approved for use as a drug to prevent labor (a tocolytic drug).
The manufacturer of terbutaline (sold under brand names of brethine and bricanyl) has never sought labeling approval for use as a tocolytic and, in fact, its labeling has specifically stated that it was not approved for treatment of pre-term labor.
Despite such labeling and despite the absence of clinical trial data which would support the efficacy and safety of the use of terbutaline as a maintenance tocolytic (usage of greater than 48 hours), for over 20 years obstetricians have been using terbutaline in such an off-label manner to slow or prevent pre-term labor.
Recent studies relate terbutaline usage to autism. The possibility of such a link has been recognized for some time.
There may be more than one cause of autism. That does not exonerate terbutaline as a cause.
You know this really makes me very angry and I know alot of that anger comes from my own personal experience with being lied to by providers and knowing that they most of the time spew crap. They spread fear and crap! And if you don't go along with what they are recommending or if you question in anyway you get the old "dead baby" card. All a mother needs to hear is "your baby could die" and most of the time it works. Well I am sorry not on me. NOT ANYMORE! Birth is as safe as life gets. There is NOTHING in life that has a 100% guarantee why should anyone expect birth to be 100%. I was given this drug in my second pregnancy as they thought I was in early preterm labor, now looking back I know it wasn't labor but at the time I was a good girl, the good patient that did everything her OB/CNM told me to do and I NEVER questioned if this drug was safe for me or baby. I just assumed that if it wasn't approved for it they wouldn't use it. Wow such a crock of shit!
2 comments:
Oh yeah... the off-label use of drugs is a complete outrage. I am still reeling over the fact that I was given cytotec with my first birth. That pisses me off to no end, because it has been shown to cause rupture in women who have never given birth. I was lucky, in that it did nothing to me. And the original use for that drug? Stomach Ulcers. It's not recommended in pregnancy at all as it is known to cause spontaneous loss, or labour.
You may have heard of False Unicorn Root for keeping pre-term labour at bay. It works. But does that mean a conventional doctor will ever go there? No. Why? Because there are so many financial benefits for them to use drugs instead of much less harmful herbal medicine which can be quite effective. Doctors are told in medical school that allopathic solutions are usually the best solutions, even if that means going off-label.
Annoying, and contrary to what they are taught or believe, not cool.
I wish you the very best in this journey. I'm glad you have ICAN to lean on for support.
-H
(Found you on MDC) I was just going to add cytotec as well-- one that is commonly used for induction- and even w/ vbac... and it causes a higher chance of rupture.
I know of women who have had vba3c. Good for you for trusting your gut!
There are still some hands-off midwives out there, but I know of plenty that aren't much different than drs. either... sad!
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