Painkillers and Birth Defects

Guest: Jennifer Lind, pharmacist and epidemiologist with the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Approximately 1/3 of women in the U.S. who are of child bearing age fill a prescription for a narcotic painkiller at least once a year, according to a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That figure is not necessarily alarming, until you consider that the CDC also says half of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. Which means many women taking narcotic painkillers may also be in the early stages of pregnancy and not realize it—opening the door to serious birth defects in their babies.