‘I want answers’
Awoman whose son was born with birth defects after she took a hormone-based pregnancy test is calling for a government investigation into the use of the tests in New Zealand.
Robyn Hughes, 63, is the first New Zealand woman to publicly share her story after new evidence from Britain this month, which showed women who took the hormone-based pill Primodos had a higher chance of having children with severe deformities or other serious health problems.
Her son was born premature and with tracheostenosis — a narrowing of the trachea.
The Tauranga woman says she was prescribed a hormone-based pregnancy testing pill when she fell pregnant in 1977 — two years after the Government ordered products of that type to be pulled from the market.
She can’t remember the name of the particular drug she was given or how many tablets she had to take, but she recalls being told that if she bled she was not pregnant and if she didn’t bleed she was pregnant.
Her son’s breathing problem was misdiagnosed for eight years.
“I was told he had a floppy larynx,” she told the Herald.
When he was 8 years old he was diagnosed with tracheostenosis — the narrowing of the trachea. “He was barely able to get air into his lungs or out of his lungs,” Hughes said.
A year later he had surgery to correct it. She has since learned an unborn baby’s oesophagus and windpipe develops at about 4-6 weeks — about the time she took the drug.
“I think I’m more angry than ... upset. I want answers,” she said.
“I think the only way we’re going to get these answers is if the Government [investigates] it.”
Last week Medsafe confirmed the Department of Health, as it was then known, issued a letter in May 1975 ordering the withdrawal of hormonebased pregnancy testing drugs from the market.
Hughes wants to know what the Government did to ensure the drug was pulled following the directive.
She has spoken to Medsafe about her experience and lodged an adverse reaction report with the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring.
Medsafe general manager Chris James said he was unable to talk about specific cases, but the agency was taking any possible complaints “extremely seriously”.
Women who believed they may have been prescribed hormone pregnancy tests such as Primodos were encouraged to come forward, and if appropriate would be referred to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring, he said last night.
“To date, a total of six instances where Primodos may have been used have been reported to Carm. Unfortunately because of the [elapsed time] the reports have little confirmed detail — including whether Primodos was actually taken.”
According to Bayer, the company which distributed Primodos, the medicine was available in New Zealand from 1966 to June 9, 1975 when it was pulled from pharmacies, James said.
General practices and pharmacies were alerted via the newsletter issued by the Department of Health.
Pharmacies were also notified via Bayer’s recall.