Our Key Issues:

The Tatia Oden French Memorial Foundation is presently focusing on the issues of informed consent, the off-label use of drugs, and maternal mortality.

Maternal Mortality: When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth, or within the twelve-month period following childbirth, due to pregnancy-related issues.

Off-Label Use of Drugs: Once a drug is approved by the FDA it can be used by ANY doctor, for any reason. This practice is called “the off-label use of drugs. There is no mandatory reporting system for side effects of drugs used off-label.

Informed Consent: The Foundation believes that TRULY informed consent occurs when ALL the possible side effects of a drug or medical intervention are made known to the patient. Only then can a woman and her family make fully informed decisions regarding the use of these procedures and drugs.

Cytotec: A drug created for the treatment of stomach ulcers by Searle. Used off- label to induce labor by ripening the cervix. Also used as a component in RU486 (the “abortion drug”). Though it is not approved by the FDA for inducing labor, Cytotec has become the “standard of care” for inducing labor.

For more information about these and other issues important to the Foundation, please see the Pregnancy Resources section.