Kim Kardashian has been forced to take down an Instagram post that endorses a product to fight morning sickness. The pregnant star posted a selfie earlier this month, claiming that the Diclegis tablets had helped her.
Kim, however, failed to warn her 42.5 million Instagram followers and 34.3 million Twitter fans that the pills had side effects, which could be harmful for women and unborn babies.
Diclegis has not been tested on women who suffer from severe morning sickness – hyperemesis gradivarum – so its effects are unknown for all cases.
Kim Kardashian came under fire for promoting morning sickness tablets that have unknown side effects
In her post, Kim was pictured proudly holding up a bottle of the prescription drugs. She captioned it: "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, I felt a lot better and most importantly, it's been studied and there was no increased risk to the baby.
"I'm so excited and happy with my results that I'm partnering with Duchesnay USA to raise awareness about treating morning sickness. If you have morning sickness, be safe and sure to ask your doctor about the pill with the pregnant woman on it and find out more www.diclegis.com."
US regulators branded her endorsement "false" and "misleading"
While Kim stated that she was partnering with pharmaceutical company Duchesnay USA, what she didn't clarify was that she was being paid to promote the drugs online.
Her social media posts were branded "false" and "misleading" by US regulators Food and Drug Administration. They sent a letter of complaint to the pharmaceutical company, telling them to tell Kim to delete her advert.
"The social media post is false or misleading in that it presents efficacy claims for Diclegis, but fails to communicate any risk information associated with its use and it omits material facts," said Robert Dean, division director at the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion.
"These violations are concerning from a public health perspective because they suggest that Diclegis is safer than has been demonstrated."
Mr Dean added that Kim would ideally send out another post containing "truthful, non-misleading, and complete corrective messages about the issues discussed… to the audience that received the violative promotional material."
Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West, who are parents to daughter North, are expecting a baby boy
In June Kim, 34, claimed that she doesn't use Instagram for promotional purposes. Speaking at the Cannes Lions festival she said: "Every deal I do I never include my Instagram. I've been really strict about that. My Instagram is off limits. It is my personal world.
"I know a lot of my brands get frustrated that I don't promote as much as they would like. I love just posting when something is really authentic. I can smell a mile away when something is not authentic.
"I'm really choosy. I don't follow a lot of people and I have unfollowed people who have promoted too much. I just don't like it when people hold up similar products and post every day about something different."
