Monday Pharmaceutical Mystery: November 19

A young lady brings in a new prescription for prenatal vitamins. She tells you that her fertility doctor gave her adamant instructions to throw away her "hair and nail beauty" vitamins. She said they were expensive and doesn't want them to go to waste. She asks you why her doctor would be so insistent on her getting rid of them.

Mystery: Why would a doctor be so opposed to any vitamins? Vitamins are supposed to be harmless.

Solution: Many beauty vitamins contain high doses of vitamin A and biotin. Vitamin A can cause birth defects similar to Accutane. Accutane is an active form of vitamin A.

Biotin can render blood laboratory results invalid. In a hospital setting, it would be dangerous not to have reliable lab results for making decision.