Use of Domperidone to increase breast milk supply: Are women really dying to breastfeed?

As outrageous as it may seem, recent reports would have you believe that women are indeed risking their lives to breastfeed their infants. The potential for domperidone to prolong the QT interval and increase the risk of fatal cardiac arrhythmias among susceptible users has been known for a number of years.1 Of particular interest is the concept of susceptibility, as original case reports of fatal cardiac arrhythmias involved the administration of high dose intravenous domperidone to cancer patients. This led to warnings by the US Food and Drug Administration and its subsequent complete withdrawal from the US market, in addition to the withdrawal of the intravenous formulation from other markets. The oral form of domperidone, however, has remained available for use in many other countries.