Tag Archives: ectopic pregnancy

Roughly one in 40 pregnancies is ectopic, which means the egg is fertilized somewhere outside the womb, often in the fallopian tubes. Doctors usually terminate these pregnancies because they pose a significant health risk to the mother and because the fetus has a small chance of surviving. However, sometimes the methods doctors use to terminate an ectopic pregnancy can cause unintended consequences if they misdiagnose the mother’s condition. “Those fetuses that are misdiagnosed as ectopic and were actually in the uterus receive high doses of teratogenic drug during early stage of development, and that causes malformations,” said Dr. Yaron Finkelstein, a physician at Sick Kids Hospital. He was quoted in an ABC News story about a woman whose child suffered birth defects after doctors misdiagnosed her pregnancy as ectopic and administered a drug called methotrexate, which caused serious birth defects in an otherwise normal pregnancy. Studies Show High Rates, High…
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