The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last week that two more women died after taking RU-486 in 2008 and 2009. The drug is now linked to eight deaths.
The announcement occurred the same week as the 10th anniversary of the drug's approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
According to a 2006 government report, more than 1 in 600 women taking RU-486 had an adverse reaction. And one quarter of those were hospitalized; most frequently for blood transfusions.
To date, the FDA has reported 1,300 RU-486-related adverse events, including 172 blood transfusions.
Jeanne Monahan, director of Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity, was not surprised with the delayed reporting by the FDA. It waited six years after the drug's approval before releasing the first reported deaths.
"That was only because Congress requested adverse event reports from the FDA," Monahan said. "They weren't forthcoming until they had to by law."
And while women's health remains an issue with RU-486, it's estimated that nearly one million preborn children have been killed by the drug since its approval.
Former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, now the Susan B. Anthony List spokeswoman, said many advocates of life and women's health expressed great concern about the FDA's handling of the approval process for RU-486.
"Some things were disregarded," she said, "and a lot of data from the French (manufacturer) was used to say that this is safe."
Musgrave is equally concerned about another French drug, called Ella, which is being promoted as an emergency contraception and is chemically similar to RU-486.
Source: CitizenLink
Date Published: October 4, 2010
