BIRTH defects in at least 100 Brazilian babies have been blamed on use of the anti-nausea drug thalidomide to treat symptoms of leprosy in pregnant women. However, independent researchers have questioned the claim, saying it is based on unpublished research and lacks proof of thalidomide as the cause.
According to a , Lavinia Sch眉ler-Faccini at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre examined the birth records of 17.5 million babies born between 2005 and 2010 and identified 100 with birth defects consistent with exposure to thalidomide. She found the cases were concentrated in areas with the heaviest use of thalidomide to treat leprosy.
鈥淭his is an ecological association, not a proven causation,鈥� says Diana Lockwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 鈥淎ssociation with thalidomide was not demonstrated.鈥�
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Lockwood says thalidomide is the most useful treatment for a complication of leprosy called erythema nodosum leprosum, and is widely used for this in India where there is evidence of its value (Australasian Journal of Dermatology, ).
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭halidomide row鈥�
