# Medicine contdactions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160 "2010-11-18T22:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/1 "2010-11-18T22:52:24Z")
When you see commercials for medicines, they always warn that it shouldn’t be taken by “women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant.” Why don’t they just say,“should not be taken by women of childbearing age?” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/2 "2010-11-18T22:55:56Z")
Many women of childbearing age are not planning to become pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/3 "2010-11-18T23:00:10Z")
A woman of childbearing age, who also happens to be a nun, is not likely to become pregnant. She’s probably OK to take the medicine in question. A woman who is of childbearing age, and actively trying to get pregnant, or regularly engaged in unprotected sex, is probably who they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/4 "2010-11-18T23:04:25Z")
Why I asked: Just seems unnecessarily wordy. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/5 "2010-11-18T23:08:16Z")
It is also more explicit. As dumb as it sounds, someone might not make the implicit connection between currently being pregnant and being “of childbearing age.” They may be intimidated by not being able to immediately equate a _number_ with “childbearing age” that they can compare with their own age, and so are eager to let the concept dissolve out of their mind as the rest of the commercial washes over them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/6 "2010-11-18T23:08:47Z")
I’ve got an IUD that will keep me from getting pregnant for the next five years with a failure rate similar to that of sterilization. Do you really think any woman between the ages of 11 and 65 may become pregnant? You don’t catch it from a toilet seat. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/7 "2010-11-18T23:11:37Z")
The message is not meant for the benefit of the women but that of their babies, who might get side-effects from the drug(s) than an adult wouldn’t. If the woman has no baby on the way or feeding off her precious bodily fluids, then there’s no problem\*. - possible side effects include hair loss, nausea, headaches, diarrhoea, water retention, joint pains, spontaneous combustion and the black plague. If your head explodes, consult a physician. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/8 "2010-11-18T23:24:17Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Why I asked: Just seems unnecessarily wordy. I don’t see it as being overly wordy. My sister, 24, is of child bearing age, with no intention of getting pregnant any time soon (AFAIK). So this med wouldn’t be a problem for her. However, if she was planning to get pregnant in the near future, she would avoid it. Why would the manufacturer want to exclude every female between puberty and menopause when only a small percentage of them shouldn’t take the med? It seems to me that would be like taking a medicine that says “Do not take while drinking” and just changing it to “Do not take.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/9 "2010-11-18T23:32:32Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Why I asked: Just seems unnecessarily wordy. It’s also more precise. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/10 "2010-11-19T07:05:46Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Why I asked: Just seems unnecessarily wordy. They can be sued for inaccurate statements; less likely to be sued for being unnecessarily wordy. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/11 "2010-11-19T09:14:49Z")
Note that a number of women of childbearing age are unable to become pregnant. It’s hardly fair or right to deny them the potential benefits of these medicines just to save a few words. So it’s not unnecessarily wordy, it’s just that you hadn’t thought through the difference between “women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant” and “women of childbearing age.” The phrases are not synonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/12 "2010-11-19T12:25:19Z")
We can’t castigate those who write the ads for taking the time to be more specific. As for the IUD user… yes, they mean you, too. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/13 "2010-11-19T14:42:03Z")
I saw a patient today- we chatted about the problems she was having, we made a management plan together, then I checked what contraception she was using. At which point she told me that the answer, was, in fact, none- as she was hoping to get pregnant. Our carefully negotiated management plan went out the window as the medications would not be a good idea in pregnancy. She left with a prescription for folic acid and lifestyle advice instead. I would have been perfectly happy to prescribe her the medication if she had been using an effective method of contraception (like an IUD) though- because the risks of not taking the medication are higher than the risk she might get pregnant while using an IUD. FWIW- “Childbearing age” is not helpful to most women. I’m supposed to advise all women to continue using some form of contraception until age 55, or until two years without a period if they are under 50 when they go through the menopause. There are lots of babies who have been conceived when their mothers’ were convinced they were postmenopausal. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/14 "2010-11-19T14:54:32Z")
I am technically of childbearing age. I’m 53. However, I had a tubal ligation when I was 23 or 24, and had my uterus and ovaries removed when I was 42. Since then, I’ve been happily informing my doctors that there’s no chance I’m pregnant or will become pregnant, and I’ve also informed the various techs who give me X rays of the same thing. A lot of women of childbearing age are celibate, or are using highly effective contraceptive options, so just saying “females between the ages of 10 and 55 should not use this medicine” is really not a good idea. For one thing, let’s HOPE that most girls under about 16 are not having sex. For another thing, some women are willing to use contraception in order to take a limited term medication, while others want a baby NOW and are willing to forgo the optimum treatment for nonpregnant women. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/15 "2010-11-19T18:38:17Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > We can’t castigate those who write the ads for taking the time to be more specific. > > As for the IUD user… yes, they mean you, too. No, they don’t. It would be perfectly reasonable for a person with an IUD to take a drug that was contraindicated for pregnancy. To do otherwise would be to deny a huge chunk of people access to most modern medications. Now, a person of childbearing age that is taking something that is known to cause birth defects (a much smaller list of drugs) may want to take additional steps, if, say, they were only using condoms, but an IUI is pretty much sterile. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicine-contdactions/561160/16 "2010-11-19T21:34:42Z")
Celibates. Lesbians. Infertile women. Women on the pill. Women who have gone through an early menopause but are statistically within the “childbearing age” limit. Women who have not gone through menopause but are statistically without the “childbearing age” limit. Women who don’t have penetrative sex. Women whose exclusive male partner is infertile. If you don’t like how “wordy” it is, don’t read it.