ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996              TAG: 9610030050
SECTION: NATL/INTL                PAGE: A-7  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: BOSTON

STUDY: PROZAC LINKED TO PREMATURE BIRTHS

A new study raises the possibility that taking the antidepressant Prozac during pregnancy increases the risk of premature delivery and newborn health problems.

However, the researchers acknowledged that these complications could be a result of the mental condition that prompted the use of the drug, not the medicine itself. Because of shortcomings in the study, experts are unsure what to make of it.

Nevertheless, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation recommended that pregnant women try to avoid taking the drug until its effects have been studied better.

Its maker, Eli Lilly & Co., recommends that it not be given to pregnant women because of a lack of data about its effects on the unborn.

The study, conducted by Christina D. Chambers and others from the University of California at San Diego, was published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   30 lines