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Free Des Symposium Will Be Held In Seattle

Carrie Schwarze Staff writer

In 1938, Eli Lilly and Co. discovered a new drug that, according to the ads, would “… prevent abortion, miscarriage and premature labor.”

Doctors and soon-to-be mothers were eager to try the wonder drug; during the 30 years it was on the market, 90,000 pregnant women in Washington state took it.

The drug, diethylstilbestrol - or DES is a synthetic hormone that not only did not prevent miscarriages but tended to cause them.

Studies from as early as 1953 also showed that seven young women whose mothers had been prescribed DES developed a rare, clear-cell vaginal and cervical cancer due to exposure to DES while in the womb.

The FDA pulled DES off the market in 1971 after sufficient research proved that the drug was not only ineffective but dangerous.

In the United States today, approximately 4.8 million “DES sons and daughters” (children of women who took the drug) suffer with DES-related health problems, including high-risk pregnancies, abnormal genital development, infertility and various autoimmune disorders.

DES Action is a grass-roots organization started in 1978 by DES mothers and daughters to educate women and men about the drug and its effects.

Legislation passed in 1992 allots funds to DES Action for research and education as well as in-depth booklets published by the National Cancer Institute explaining complications related to DES exposure.

Renewed interest in DES Action has been sparked by affected daughters reaching their mid-30s and 40s who fear menopause will bring further problems.

For instance, the clear-cell cancer these women feared in their teens and early 20s is still a threat. Before DES was a factor, this adenocarcinoma was prevalent only in women in their early 40s. For DES daughters, the risk is still there and yearly screening test is still necessary.

These same women also worry about third-generation children, now between their late teens and early 20s, when further DES-related complications might begin to develop.

“Third Generation Network,” a booklet available through DES Action, can help explain possible health concerns.

It’s estimated that 270,000 mothers, sons and daughters throughout the state have been exposed to DES. In the early 1980s, Cheney resident Jill Worthington created the first DES Action chapter in Spokane for concerned Eastern Washington residents. Spokane native Karen Lang has begun a Western Washington chapter in Seattle.

An Oct. 8 symposium in Seattle will be the first time a nationally acclaimed DES medical expert has addressed a Washington audience.

Dr. Arthur Haney, a reproductive endocrinologist and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University, has treated thousands of DES daughters. He has written extensively on DES effects and is a consultant to the National Cancer Institute’s DES Education Program.

The 3:30 p.m. symposium will be in the Volney Richmond Jr. Auditorium of the Virginia Mason Medical Center’s North Pavilion Building, 1201 Terry. The event is free, and free parking will be available in the open lot at Ninth and Seneca and in the parking garage at 1101 Ninth.

Registration is not necessary, and all are welcome.

Local residents unable to attend the symposium may hear Haney on the Laura Lee Radio Show at 9 p.m. Saturday on KGA (1510 AM).

, DataTimes MEMO: Jill Worthington can be contacted at (509) 235-2427, and Karen Lang at (206) 329-1932. National Cancer Institute booklets may be obtained by sending two $1 bills for shipping and handling (no checks) to DES Action, 1615 Broadway No. 510, Oakland, CA 94612. More information about the symposium is available by calling (509) 235-2427.

Jill Worthington can be contacted at (509) 235-2427, and Karen Lang at (206) 329-1932. National Cancer Institute booklets may be obtained by sending two $1 bills for shipping and handling (no checks) to DES Action, 1615 Broadway No. 510, Oakland, CA 94612. More information about the symposium is available by calling (509) 235-2427.