Study suggests link between miscarriage risk, NSAIDs

Women who are pregnant or trying to conceive face higher risks of miscarriage if using certain over-the-counter pain remedies early in their pregnancy, a new study shows.

CTVNews.ca Staff
Date: Tue. Sep. 6 2011 10:45 PM ET

Women who take certain anti-inflammatory medications could be prone to a higher risk of miscarriage, a new Quebec study suggests, but at least one doctor is already disputing the research.

The study, which appears in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined pregnant women and their use of prescribed non-aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also known as NSAIDs.

Those drugs include naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac and celecoxib.

The study obtained its data from the Quebec Pregnancy Registry and the Quebec insurance plan RAMQ. It found that the risk of miscarriage was 2.4 times greater for women prescribed with NSAIDs.

Dr. Gideon Koren, director of the Motherisk program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, told The Canadian Press the study is flawed because one of the drugs -- ibuprofen -- is available without a prescription.

"The ibuprofen is a huge part and we don't know who bought it or not, and who took it, if the group that did not have miscarriages bought it more than the other group," he said Tuesday in an interview.

"You cannot use a prescription database for a drug which is given not just for prescription. It just doesn't jibe."

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20110906/miscarriage-nsaid-painkillers-110906/