Ontario doctor’s college cautions Toronto pediatrician over breastfeeding drug – CBC

Woman who suffered severe withdrawal symptoms should not have been prescribed it, assessor finds

Apr 22, 2024

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has expressed concern about the prescribing and oversight practices of a Toronto breastfeeding doctor in a case where a woman was prescribed domperidone, whose off-label use to induce lactation is controversial.

Domperidone is approved in Canada as a digestive aid, but commonly prescribed off-label to women struggling to breastfeed as a way to increase milk supply, sometimes at doses several times higher than Health Canada’s recommended maximum of 30 mg/day.

Some women who take it suffer severe psychological withdrawal effects when they stop it abruptly, which is what happened to complainant Joanna McCabe.

McCabe was producing enough breast milk and did not need the medication, according to an independent assessor who reviewed the complaint against Dr. Jack Newman.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/domperidone-college-physicians-surgeons-ontario-1.7177725