Cozaar and Pregnancy

Because Cozaar can pose health risks to an unborn child, many people want to know more about the risks of Cozaar and pregnancy. Some complications seen with fetuses or newborns exposed to Cozaar during pregnancy include: developmental problems with the nervous system, lungs, or cardiovascular system; deformities of the head and face; kidney failure; and loss of life. Cozaar is considered a pregnancy Category C medicine for the first trimester and category D for the second and third trimester.

 

Is Cozaar Safe During Pregnancy? -- An Overview

For people who are pregnant, Cozaar® (losartan potassium) is usually not recommended. This is because during pregnancy, Cozaar puts the unborn child at risk of temporary or permanent problems, including death.
 

What Is the Risk of Using Cozaar During Pregnancy?

Prior to 2006, there was a common belief among healthcare providers regarding the use of Cozaar during pregnancy.
 The feeling was that problems with Cozaar and pregnancy were generally seen when the drug was taken during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. However, that changed when a study by researchers at Vanderbilt University was published in the June 2006 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. This study showed that there may, in fact, also be an increased risk to the fetus if it is exposed to drugs like Cozaar during the first trimester. Whether the risk to the fetus is as great in the first trimester as in the second or third trimesters is not known.
 
Some of the complications seen with fetuses or newborns exposed to Cozaar during pregnancy include:
 
  • Low blood pressure (hypotension)
  • Developmental problems with the nervous system
  • Developmental problems with the cardiovascular system (this includes the heart and/or blood vessels)
  • Developmental problems with the lungs
  • Kidney failure
  • Deformities of the head and face
  • Loss of life.

 

(Cozaar and Pregnancy Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;