Aricept 23 mg/Aricept Evess Use In Pregnancy & Lactation

Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C: There are no adequate or well-controlled studies in pregnant women. ARICEPT should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
Oral administration of donepezil hydrochloride to pregnant rats and rabbits during the period of organogenesis did not produce any teratogenic effects at doses up to 16 mg/kg/day (approximately 6 times the maximum recommended human dose [MRHD] of 23 mg/day on a mg/m² basis) and 10 mg/kg/day (approximately 7 times the MRHD on a mg/m² basis), respectively. Oral administration of donepezil hydrochloride (1, 3, 10 mg/kg/day) to rats during late gestation and throughout lactation to weaning produced an increase in stillbirths and reduced offspring survival through postpartum day 4 at the highest dose. The no-effect dose of 3 mg/kg/day is approximately equal to the MRHD on a mg/m² basis.
Lactation: It is not known whether donepezil hydrochloride is excreted in human breast milk and there are no studies in lactating women. Therefore, women on donepezil hydrochloride should not breast feed.