DES
DES (Diethylstilbestrol) is one of the most widespread and damaging examples of harm to patients in the name of prescription drug profits. First synthesized in 1938, studies showed from the start that DES was dangerous, and in 1954 it was even found to be ineffective. Nevertheless, DES was manufactured and marketed until 1997.
DES was manufactured by over 300 companies (it was not patented) and marketed as a way to reduce miscarriages if taken by women who were already pregnant. Clinical studies showed that it did not change the risk of miscarriage at all. It was also used as a postpartum lactation suppressor, a hormone replacement therapy, a treatment for advanced breast cancer, and a treatment for advanced prostate cancer. By 1990, these last two were the only two uses still approved by the FDA.
All told, millions of pregnant women and their children (DES daughters and DES sons) have been exposed to DES, mostly in the 1950's and 1960's. Women born after 1971 are not at risk because the drug was not used on pregnant women after that time. But for those who were, here are some of the consequences of this widespread exposure:
- DES is the leading cause of vaginal adenosis, an abnormality of the vagina that causes DES daughters' vaginal lining to develop at a slower rate, which can set the stage for cervical cancer.
- Clear cell vaginal adenocarcinoma is a unique kind of cancer found only in DES daughters. Adenocarcinoma accounts for roughly 10 percent of vaginal cancers, with the clear cell variety being even rarer than that. It is one of the most difficult cancers to detect.
- Birth defects of DES daughters can include uterine fibrosis, incompetent cervix, and uterine hypoplasia. All of these present fertility consequences and complications if these women then try to have children of their own. DES daughters have been shown to struggle with high rates of infertility, miscarriage, pre-term labor, and neuro-behavioral damage for babies that are born.
- DES has also been linked with endometriosis, fibroids, abnormal fallopian tube development, and breast cancer.
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