I just heard an ad on the radio for a prescription pill (don’t recall the name) to treat men with advanced prostate cancer. One of the warnings was that it may cause harm to an unborn child. How could that work?

Question

I just heard an ad on the radio for a prescription pill (don’t recall the name) to treat men with advanced prostate cancer. One of the warnings was that it may cause harm to an unborn child. How could that work?

In: 2

Answer 1

When clinical studies are done, you have to document _everything_ that happens and, unless you can **prove** otherwise, list those things as _potential_ side effects of the medication.

In this case, it is likely that someone in the clinical trial had a child born with some defect or malady, so it was listed as a potential side effect – true or not.