Cytotec: safe or deadly? A medically induced labor becomes necessary for many reasons. Some pregnancies develop complications such as hypertension, preeclampsia, heart disease, gestational diabetes, or bleeding during pregnancy (1). Many pregnancies go beyond forty-two weeks and “there is evidence that some babies are at risk after this stage due to a gradual decrease in nutrient supply from the placenta” (1). To start labor that has not started naturally, “a mechanical or chemical stimulus is needed” (1). Artificial (mechanical) membrane rupture is “when the water sac (amniotic sac) ruptures or ruptures, production of the hormone prostaglandin increases, speeding up contractions” (1). Drugs (chemicals) may be given to the patient to “produce a synthetic form of the hormone that the body naturally produces during spontaneous labor” (2). The most commonly used drugs are pitocin and syntocinon which are “a synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin”. Cytotec is another drug used to start labor. However, Cytotec has many risks and adverse effects when used for this purpose. Administration of Cytotec to obstetric patients is considered an off-label use. “In the United States, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations allow doctors to prescribe drugs approved for indications other than those intended. This practice is known as off label use” (3). This practice is a loophole in FDA law which states that “once a drug is tested and approved for a specific use it may be prescribed and used for any other use that a physician would choose without needing to be tested for that treatment”( ) . Cytotec was developed “to prevent stomach ulcers in patients taking anti-inflammatory drugs…half of the document……This is my life now, this is who I am; a broken spirit, with a broken body, all because of an error in judgment. Frenchwoman Tatia M. Oden is a consumer group organizing a petition against the FDA due to adverse effects related to the use of the drug Cytotec. To date, there are a total of 2,796 signatures asking the FDA to consider events that affect women and their families when using Cytotec. 2,796 people have been affected by its use. Women have died, children have died, men have lost their wives and/or children. Everyone has changed in some way thanks to a little pill. It is not known whether any of these events or objections by Searle will change support for ACOG or FDA legislation. Cytotec is still administered to women who have faith and trust that their life, and sometimes the life of their unborn child, is in the best hands of their doctor.