Hospitals offer hazardous fertility drugs
By Wang Qingchu |
July 26, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FERTILITY drugs that stimulate women to produce multiple eggs are reported to be widely used in private hospitals in south China's Guangdong Province and are available online, posing health hazards to mothers and their babies.
According to Guangzhou Daily, several private hospitals are claiming to help women conceive twins, saying they can prescribe medication worth several hundred yuan at the request of patients.
One unidentified hospital claimed to have helped 60,000 couples conceive over the past 15 years, and twins were common, a customer service staffer told the newspaper.
After taking the pills, women need to return to hospital three times to have their ovulation monitored by doctors. The whole process cost just several hundred yuan, according to the staffer, who assured the newspaper it is a mature therapy and there are no side effects.
The drugs, 60 yuan (US$9.30) to 70 yuan per pack, were available online without prescription. An online shop boasted having sold 210 packs in the past 30 days, the report said. The retailer claimed to be buying the drugs with a prescription.
The use of fertility drugs has increased the occurrence of multiple births. The incidence of twins born in five hospitals in Jiang-xi Province has soared to more than 200 last year from just 60 in 2005, the report said.
Liao Zhiqiong, a doctor at the No. 2 Hospital Affiliated with Guangzhou Medical College, told the newspaper: "Hospitals strictly control the fertility drugs as they could be very dangerous."
Among mothers taking the pills, miscarriages were 10 percent more likely and premature births 20 percent more likely, while babies were more susceptible to cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
According to Guangzhou Daily, several private hospitals are claiming to help women conceive twins, saying they can prescribe medication worth several hundred yuan at the request of patients.
One unidentified hospital claimed to have helped 60,000 couples conceive over the past 15 years, and twins were common, a customer service staffer told the newspaper.
After taking the pills, women need to return to hospital three times to have their ovulation monitored by doctors. The whole process cost just several hundred yuan, according to the staffer, who assured the newspaper it is a mature therapy and there are no side effects.
The drugs, 60 yuan (US$9.30) to 70 yuan per pack, were available online without prescription. An online shop boasted having sold 210 packs in the past 30 days, the report said. The retailer claimed to be buying the drugs with a prescription.
The use of fertility drugs has increased the occurrence of multiple births. The incidence of twins born in five hospitals in Jiang-xi Province has soared to more than 200 last year from just 60 in 2005, the report said.
Liao Zhiqiong, a doctor at the No. 2 Hospital Affiliated with Guangzhou Medical College, told the newspaper: "Hospitals strictly control the fertility drugs as they could be very dangerous."
Among mothers taking the pills, miscarriages were 10 percent more likely and premature births 20 percent more likely, while babies were more susceptible to cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
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