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CMECNE

ACOG & SMFM: Acetaminophen Use and Safety in Pregnancy

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Learning Objectives and CME/Disclosure Information

This activity is intended for healthcare providers delivering care to women and their families.

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

1. Discuss the relationship between acetaminophen use and neurobehavioral disorders
2. Counsel a patient regarding acetaminophen use during pregnancy

Estimated time to complete activity: 0.25 hours

Faculty:

Susan J. Gross, MD, FRCSC, FACOG, FACMG
President and CEO, The ObG Project

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) requires faculty, planners, and others in control of educational content to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies. All identified conflicts of interest (COI) are thoroughly vetted and mitigated according to PIM policy. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality accredited continuing education activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of an ineligible company.

The PIM planners and others have nothing to disclose. The OBG Project planners and others have nothing to disclose.

Faculty: Susan J. Gross, MD, receives consulting fees from Cradle Genomics, and has financial interest in The ObG Project, Inc.

Planners and Managers: The PIM planners and managers, Trace Hutchison, PharmD, Samantha Mattiucci, PharmD, CHCP, Judi Smelker-Mitchek, MBA, MSN, RN, and Jan Schultz, MSN, RN, CHCP have nothing to disclose.

Method of Participation and Request for Credit

Fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this activity are as posted on The ObG Project website. During the period from Dec 31 2017 through Dec 31 2021, participants must read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures and study the educational activity.

If you wish to receive acknowledgment for completing this activity, please complete the post-test and evaluation. Upon registering and successfully completing the post-test with a score of 100% and the activity evaluation, your certificate will be made available immediately.

For Pharmacists: Upon successfully completing the post-test with a score of 100% and the activity evaluation form, transcript information will be sent to the NABP CPE Monitor Service within 4 weeks.

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and The ObG Project. Postgraduate Institute for Medicine is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physician Continuing Medical Education

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Continuing Nursing Education

The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 0.2 contact hours.

Designated for 0.1 contact hours of pharmacotherapy credit for Advance Practice Registered Nurses.

Read Disclaimer & Fine Print

SUMMARY:

There have been studies suggesting an association between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and adverse outcomes in offspring, including neurodevelopmental concerns (e.g., ADHD and autism), reproductive issues (early puberty onset) and urogenital and reproductive tract abnormalities.

Nature Reviews Endocrinology Consensus Statement and ACOG Response

A paper in Nature Reviews Endocrinology (2021) published a consensus document that states

We recommend that pregnant women should be cautioned at the beginning of pregnancy to: forego APAP unless its use is medically indicated; consult with a physician or pharmacist if they are uncertain whether use is indicated and before using on a long-term basis; and minimize exposure by using the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time

ACOG Response

ACOG has responded to the consensus document and points out that all these studies are observational in design; there is no evidence of causation between careful use of acetaminophen and disorders of fetal development (generally categorized as multifactorial). In addition, brain development continues beyond a year of age (approximately 15 months) and therefore multiple other exposures may be relevant beyond pain medication during pregnancy. The ACOG response recognizes the importance of using medications in pregnancy ‘as needed’, but also notes that acetaminophen is considered one of the “only safe pain relievers” during pregnancy and concludes

The authors are not recommending anything counter to what is already done by obstetrician-gynecologists when prescribing acetaminophen for a given clinical condition

ACOG’s clinical guidance remains the same and physicians should not change clinical practice until definitive prospective research is done. Most importantly, patients should not be frightened away from the many benefits of acetaminophen

Past FDA Guidance and SMFM Response

On January 9, 2015, the FDA stated in a Drug Safety Communication regarding possible risks of pain medicine use during pregnancy:

“Acetaminophen is a common pain reducer and fever reducer found in hundreds of medicines including those used for colds, flu, allergies, and sleep. We found all of the studies we reviewed to have potential limitations in their designs; sometimes the accumulated studies on a topic contained conflicting results that prevented us from drawing reliable conclusions.  As a result, our recommendations on how pain medicines are used during pregnancy will remain the same at this time.”

SMFM Response

SMFM released a statement entitled “Prenatal Acetaminophen Use and Outcomes in Children” in response to more recent reports (retrospective) that have been published since the FDA release that looked at childhood outcomes including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  The SMFM concludes:

“Based on our evaluation of these studies, we believe that the weight of evidence is inconclusive regarding a possible causal relationship between acetaminophen use and neurobehavioral disorders in the offspring.”

“As with all medication use during pregnancy, communication regarding the risks versus the benefits of prescription and other-the-counter medications use should occur between patient and provider. SMFM continues to advise that acetaminophen be considered a reasonable and appropriate medication choice for the treatment of pain and/or fever during pregnancy.”

Learn More – Primary Sources:

Paracetamol use during pregnancy — a call for precautionary action

ACOG Response to Consensus Statement on Paracetamol Use During Pregnancy

SMFM Statement: Prenatal Acetaminophen Use and Outcomes in Children Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Publications Committee

FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA has reviewed possible risks of pain medicine use during pregnancy

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Related ObG Topics:

ACOG Response to FDA Communication on Anesthesia in Pregnancy

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Computer System Requirements

OBG Project CME requires a modern web browser (Internet Explorer 10+, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge). Certain educational activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of their content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Media Player, or Real Networks Real One Player.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information
presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

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