Reglan in Your Children: Damaging Side Effects

Children and Reglan Side Effects

Prescription medicine Reglan (generic form metoclopramide) has been found to cause severe side effects, including tardive dyskinesia, yet doctors continue to prescribe it to children as well as to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Children Consume Reglan in Three Main Ways

1. Before it was given a “black box” warning label for its link to tardive dyskinesia, Reglan was prescribed freely to minors. Now, however, it is still used as a treatment in pediatric medicine for the common problem of gastroesophageal reflux (GER). It is also prescribed less often for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In addition it is used to alleviate vomiting and nausea brought on by surgery or chemotherapy.
2. Reglan is often prescribed to hasten gastric emptying for pregnant patients, who then have the potential to pass on the drug and its side effects to the unborn children they carry.
3. Breast milk can be a conduit for Reglan. There is not much conclusive research showing that infants often contract tardive dyskinesia via breast milk, however the American Academy of Pediatrics sees Reglan use by breastfeeding women to be a risky act. The irony here is that Reglan has been prescribed off-label for years for use as a breast milk stimulant in mothers who experience low milk supply.

Reglan’s Most At-Risk Users

The risk of developing tardive dyskinesia as a side effect of Reglan is simple to understand: the more Reglan one consumes, and the longer one consumes it, the greater the odds that tardive dyskinesia will appear. In particular, elderly patients and children exposed to Reglan are the most susceptible to developing this incurable disorder. The FDA-approved treatment period for Reglan is only 4-12 weeks, yet a recent FDA study found that 20 percent of people taking Reglan used it for much longer although they were following doctor’s orders. Some had even been prescribed Reglan for years of continuous use. This dangerous off-label consumption is one of the most serious allegations made by the hundreds of Reglan lawsuits underway in the US court system.

Recognizing Reglan Tardive Dyskinesia

Certain neuroleptic drugs can produce side effects that are classified as neurological disorders, and tardive dyskinesia is one such side effect. In the 1960s, physicians observing psychiatric patients on antipsychotic medications were the first to witness and describe tardive dyskinesia. Reglan is similar in chemical composition to those medications, and it also affects the central nervous system. Consuming Reglan beyond the approved treatment period and dosage can result in involuntary tics such as facial grimacing, and other symptoms that can be misinterpreted as signs of Tourrette’s syndrome. Tardive dyskinesia can be particularly easy to overlook when dealing with babies, since many of the signature symptoms (finger twitching, leg kicking, cheek puffing, chewing, mouth puckering) are easily confused with ordinary infant behavior.

Tardive dyskinesia is a chronic condition with no cure. If you have reason to believe that you or a child may be exhibiting signs of Reglan side effects, stop taking Reglan at once and consult your doctor.