• 01
  • February
    2012

Suffering a miscarriage can be a traumatic and life-changing event. When millions of women attempted to avoid this heartbreaking occurrence by ingesting diethylstilbestrol (DES), they unintentionally exposed the daughters they would eventually bear to potentially catastrophic medical consequences.

The dangerous drug DES was prescribed to pregnant women from 1938-1971. The drug was taken off the market when it was discovered that the daughters of women who took DES during their pregnancy had a high risk of a rare reproductive cancer, as a result of in-utero exposure. These affected women are often referred to as "DES daughters."

DES daughters have brought thousands of lawsuits since the 1970s for injuries related to infertility and reproductive cancers associated with their in-utero exposure to the drug. However, new allegations are surfacing in a case out of Boston which may expand the ways in which the law views DES exposure cases.

The Boston suit alleges that a link exists between DES in-utero exposure and a middle-aged woman's breast cancer. She was diagnosed with a form of cancer usually associated with women over 60 and, allegedly, DES daughters.

A study done by researchers at the National Cancer Institute has determined that DES daughters over the age of 40 are twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women who were not exposed to the drug in utero.

The suit insists that 14 DES manufacturers withheld vital information from regulators related to the drug. The case is being closely followed by other DES daughters nationwide, as a verdict in favor of the Boston woman may allow others to recover for DES-related breast cancer.

Source: USA Today, "Boston lawsuit claims DES-breast cancer link," Jan. 10, 2012