Dermatologic drugs in pregnancy

Since the thalidomide disaster, there has been increasing concern about the association of therapeutic agents with teratogenicity. Although teratogenicity of thalidomide is now well defined,¹ use of the drug is considered safe in nonpregnant patients and has proven useful in the treatment of leprosy reactions and a variety of skin diseases.^2,3 Nevertheless, association with birth defects resulted in removal of the drug from the market, which has made it virtually unavailable. Twenty years after the thalidomide disaster, association of the use of 13-cis-retinoic acid in pregnancy with a well-defined syndrome of birth defects has renewed concerns about the teratogenic risk of all drugs in pregnancy.⁴.