Kim Kardashian is one of the most famous people in the world and anything she endorses certainly gets a lot of attention. One of her endorsed products is Dicelgis, a prescription medication that helps pregnant women overcome morning sickness.
The 36-year-old television personality endorsed the drug back in July 2015 when she was pregnant with her second child with Kanye West, son Saint. The drug has been used for the past 40 years with an estimated 35 million treated pregnant women, as reported by New York Magazine.
However, a recent study published in PLOS One questioned the efficacy of Dicelgis. Nav Persaud, who is the lead author, analyzed more than 7,200 pages of data from clinical trials in the 1970s about Dicelgis' active ingredients, doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine HCl.
Persaud conducted the study in Toronto along with his fellow scientist, Rujun Zhang, at St. Michael's Hospital. The data was reportedly never been made public until now and Persaud was astonished by what he found out.
They noticed some irregularities on the outcome data for placebos and patients who did not have any follow ups. The study concluded that the drug should not be used for treating morning sickness because of the "high risk of bias." Persaud has stopped prescribing Dicelgis to his patients and called out the FDA.
According to the Washington Post, Kardashian got into trouble in August 2015 after endorsing Dicelgis on her Instagram account. The United States Food and Drug Administration ordered her to take down the post because it was misleading for not disclosing the risks involved.
The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star later posted a corrective ad on her Instagram account that presented more information about Dicelgis. A spokesman from Duchesnay, the company that sells the drug in the United States, and in Canada as Diclectin, assured the Post that their product is safe to use.
"We have complete confidence in the safety and efficacy of Diclectin and are very proud to provide it as a safe and effective treatment option for women suffering from nausea and vomiting of pregnancy," Ron Vaillancourt of Duchesnay said.
