LEGAL HELP CENTER - DES Diethylstilbestrol

Des Diethylstilbestrol News:

• T -    • h -    •  -    • t -    • S -    • < -

From 1947 to 1971, millions of American women, at risk of miscarriage, were prescribed a drug known as diethylstilbestrol (DES.) This artificial hormone was advertised as a miracle drug that could not only guarantee a full-term pregnancy, but also a healthier newborn.

Initially, the infants born to mothers taking DES were healthy. Several years later, as the once healthy infants reached puberty or started preparing for families of their own, the children of DES began to find out the horrible truth. The DES their mothers had taken to ensure their births had in some cases, produced rare tumors in their reproductive systems.   In other infants once born healthy, DES had left them unable to bear children of their own.   In 1971 government regulators put a halt to prescriptions of DES, unfortunately it still continues to affect the lives of the children and grandchildren of those who took it.

In addition to the problems noted above, women exposed to DES in the womb are at a higher risk for:

Furthermore, mothers who took DES throughout their pregnancy are at greater risk for breast cancer, whereas their sons are at a elevated risk for testicular cancer. These male children may also have undescended or undersized testicles or abnormal semen.

If you took DES during your pregnancy, or if you're the offspring of one of the 5 million women who did, your health troubles may be the result of your connection to this drug.