Hormone test ‘not to blame for birth defects’

The use of a hormone pregnancy test in the 1960s and 1970s was not responsible for serious birth defects experienced by some families who took the drug, an official review has concluded.

However, campaigners have called the review by the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) a “whitewash” saying that the expert working group did not examine all of the available evidence on the use of the drugs – the most common of which was Primodos. The CHM expert working group on hormone pregnancy tests (HPT) said the scientific evidence does “not support a causal association” between the use of HPTS such as Primodos, and birth defects or miscarriage.

It said: “Having thoroughly examined all of the evidence, the conclusion of the review is that the use of HPTS, including Primodos, in early pregnancy, was not responsible for serious birth defects experienced by some people.”

The group recommended that families who took an HPT and experienced an “adverse pregnancy outcome” should be offered genetic testing to see whether another underlying cause could be determined.