Abstract

The Medical Letter has several times urged physicians to be cautious in prescribing drugs for women in early pregnancy or of child-bearing age, and has noted certain drugs that should be avoided altogether (The Medical Letter, Brit. ed. 1962, 1, 23, 33, 41). Another in the list of drugs that are best avoided during pregnancy is podophyllum, a cathartic resin which has long been known to disturb mitosis, and which is possibly incriminated in one case of foetal malformation with multiple deformities (J.E. Cullis, Lancet 1962, 2, 511).