After Catching Heat for Promoting Morning Sickness Pills, Kim K. Is Going for Another Round

Gordon Hurd
Kim kardashian morning sickness pills
When it comes to face cream and makeup, no one bats an eye when Kim Kardashian promotes products on her Instagram account. Promoting morning sickness pills, on the other hand, has been fraught with issues for the reality TV star. (Photo: Instagram)

Unless they desire to remain willfully ignorant, anyone who peruses the most followed social media celebrities knows that there is big money behind many of the messages they send. One of the top earners in this pursuit is Kim Kardashian. One source reports that the reality TV star makes around $500,000 per paid social media post.

When you understand that paying people to post on their social media is one of the least-regulated forms of advertising on the planet, it’s no stretch to imagine that a lot of iffy behavior could be going on. Take Kardashian’s hawking of morning sickness pills Diclegis as a prime example.

When she first promoted said drugs back in 2015, the folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took umbrage at the fact that she promoted these pills for pregnant women without fully disclosing the potential side effects. Given that Instagram has a generous word count for posts, there was pretty much no excuse for not including that kind of information, particularly when she was getting paid to promote the product.

The full text of her sponsored content went as follows:

“OMG. Have you heard about this? As you guys know my #morningsickness has been pretty bad. I tried changing things about my lifestyle, like my diet, but nothing helped, so I talked to my doctor. He prescribed me #Diclegis, and I felt a lot better and most importantly, it’s been studied and there was no increased risk to the baby.”

After the gentle slap on the hand by the FDA, Kardashian deleted her post and reposted a similar ad with more regulation-friendly content.

#CorrectiveAd I guess you saw the attention my last #morningsickness post received. The FDA has told Duchesnay, Inc., that my last post about Diclegis (doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine HCl) was incomplete because it did not include any risk information or important limitations of use for Diclegis. A link to this information accompanied the post, but this didn’t meet FDA requirements. So, I’m re-posting and sharing this important information about Diclegis. For US Residents Only. Diclegis is a prescription medicine used to treat nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in women who have not improved with change in diet or other non-medicine treatments. Limitation of Use: Diclegis has not been studied in women with hyperemesis gravidarum. Important Safety Information Do not take Diclegis if you are allergic to doxylamine succinate, other ethanolamine derivative antihistamines, pyridoxine hydrochloride or any of the ingredients in Diclegis. You should also not take Diclegis in combination with medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), as these medicines can intensify and prolong the adverse CNS effects of Diclegis. The most common side effect of Diclegis is drowsiness. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or other activities that need your full attention unless your healthcare provider says that you may do so. Do not drink alcohol, or take other central nervous system depressants such as cough and cold medicines, certain pain medicines, and medicines that help you sleep while you take Diclegis. Severe drowsiness can happen or become worse causing falls or accidents. Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Diclegis can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby. You should not breastfeed while using Diclegis. Additional safety information can be found at www.DiclegisImportantSafetyinfo.com or www.Diclegis.com. Duchesnay USA encourages you to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Aug 30, 2015 at 6:01pm PDT

Two years later, this past April, Diclegis reappeared in Kardashian’s social media stream — even though she wasn’t pregnant. Her second attempt at promoting the product didn’t go over too well. Critics pointed out the sloppy copy-and-paste job in the text and the strangely edited image (showing a Photoshopped shot of her original ad on her phone), among other details.

#Ad Remember this? Just want to remind all of you that if you’re miserable with #morningsickness like I was, try changing your diet & lifestyle first. If you still feel sick, don’t wait-ask your doctor about #Diclegis (doxylamine succinate & pyridoxine HCl), the only FDA-approved medication for morning sickness. It’s the most studied drug in pregnancy & it worked for me! I want to empower all moms-to-be and encourage them to speak up. #DontSufferInSilence! The most common side effect is drowsiness. Visit diclegis.com Additional safety information can be found below & at DiclegisImportantSafetyinfo.com. Duchesnay USA encourages you to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. For U.S. Residents Only. Diclegis is a prescription medicine used to treat nausea & vomiting of pregnancy in women who haven’t improved with change in diet or other non-medicine treatments. Limitation of Use: Diclegis hasn’t been studied in women with hyperemesis gravidarum. Important Safety Information Do not take Diclegis if you’re allergic to any of the ingredients in Diclegis. You should also not take Diclegis in combination with medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, as these medicines can intensify & prolong the adverse CNS effects of Diclegis. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery or other activities that need your full attention unless your healthcare provider says that you may do so. Do not drink alcohol or take other central nervous system depressants such as cough & cold medicines, certain pain medicines & medicines that help you sleep while you take Diclegis. Severe drowsiness can happen or become worse causing falls or accidents. It is not known if Diclegis is safe & effective in children under 18 years of age. Keep Diclegis & all medicines out of the reach of children. Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you’re breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Diclegis can pass into your breast milk & may harm your baby. You shouldn’t breastfeed while using Diclegis.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Apr 13, 2017 at 8:59am PDT

And then recently, she posted yet another round of promotion for the drug.

#Ad #DYK 4 million babies are born each year in the US. That means a lot of my US followers are mommies2B who could have morning sickness like I did! I want to share what helped me: Diclegis® (doxylamine succinate/pyridoxine HCl), the only FDA-approved medication for morning sickness when diet & lifestyle changes fail. My doctor assured me that it’s safe & effective for mom & baby. It’s also easy to recognize – it has the cutest pregnant lady on it! #DontSufferinSilence you’re not alone! If you have morning sickness, ask your healthcare provider if #Diclegis is right for you. The most common side effect of Diclegis is drowsiness. Diclegis.com US Residents Only Diclegis is a prescription medicine used to treat nausea & vomiting of pregnancy in women who haven’t improved with change in diet or other non-medicine treatments. Limitation of Use: Diclegis hasn’t been studied in women with hyperemesis gravidarum. Important Safety Information Don’t take Diclegis if you’re allergic to any of the ingredients in Diclegis. You should also not take Diclegis in combination with medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, as these medicines can intensify & prolong the adverse CNS effects of Diclegis. Don’t drive, operate heavy machinery or other activities that need your full attention unless your healthcare provider says that you may do so. Don’t drink alcohol or take other central nervous system depressants such as cough & cold medicines, certain pain medicines & medicines that help you sleep while you take Diclegis. Severe drowsiness can happen or become worse causing falls or accidents. It is not known if Diclegis is safe & effective in children under 18 years of age. Keep Diclegis & all medicines out of the reach of children. Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you’re breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Diclegis can pass into your breast milk & may harm your baby. You shouldn’t breastfeed while using Diclegis. Additional safety information can be found at DiclegisImportantSafetyinfo.com. Duchesnay USA encourages you to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit fda.gov/medwatch or

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jul 28, 2017 at 9:34am PDT

Besides the initial lack of disclosure and the princely sums she’s apparently receiving for promoting a product it’s not even clear that she actually used — or has a reason to anymore — others are also crying foul that she’s promoting a product that is controversial, by many measures.

Even though Kardashian was willing to tell her millions of fans that she took the product and that “there was no increased risk to the baby,” Diclegis, which has been around since the 1950s, when it was known as Bendectin, was taken off the market in the 1980s due to an onslaught of lawsuits claiming that it caused birth defects. While the FDA reapproved it as safe for treating morning sickness in 2013 under its new name, the drug is not without concerns.

Even her fans are taking notice. As one commenter put it (punctuation added for clarity): “Kim, cmon, don’t push drugs. You know you have a lot of followers, and these drugs haven’t been around long enough to know long-term defects. I’m a huge fan and love you and your family, and have loved that you all are so healthy, and thought you would be against something like this.”

But as shown by her latest campaign, it seems that Kim Kardashian doesn’t have any concerns about promoting the product.

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