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For Immediate Release
Considerable Research Needed for
In-Vitro Fertilization Therapy
May 15, 1998
The Aspirin Foundation of America today welcomed the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) recommendation that aspirin and heparin anti-coagulant therapy
associated with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) be subjected to vigorous scientific investigation
before being accepted as an FDA approved, routine practice.
Currently, the "off-label" aspirin and heparin therapy is routinely used by doctors trying to
increase the chances of successful IVF in cases of women who have had recurrent
spontaneous miscarriages and who have specific auto-antibody profiles. However, the use
of the therapy has recently grown to include women who have previously had an
unsuccessful IVF attempt and new IVF patients.
A 1997 study by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology found that 49 percent of
IVF doctors consider women who have had an unsuccessful IVF attempt as viable
candidates for the therapy.
"Aspirin is approved by FDA for many uses," said Dr. Thomas E. Bryant, president of the
Aspirin Foundation of America, "but it is not an approved therapy, either by itself or in
combination with heparin, for in-vitro fertilization. Considerable research remains to be done
in this area and hopefully the CDC's recommendation can help spur this process along."
The Aspirin Foundation of America is a non-profit, educational foundation that has been
collecting and disseminating health and scientific information on aspirin since 1981.
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Contact:
Caroline Perrin
807 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 800-432-3247 Fax: 202/737-8406
info@aspirin.org
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