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MIFEPREX
Mifeprex (mifepristone) (RU-486) is a pill administered for a medical abortion up to 7 weeks after pregnancy, and is an alternative to surgical abortion. The drug blocks a hormone required to sustain a pregnancy, and when followed by Cytotec (misoprostol) to assist with contractions, the pregnancy is terminated. Since the U.S. FDA approved the drug in September 2000, more than 460,000 women have used the pill in the United States to end pregnancies. Mifeprex is manufactured by Danco Laboratories.
There have been 637 reported cases of adverse side effects associated with Mifeprex. Many of these cases involved side effects such as hemorrhage, infection, and deadly septic shock. There have been five reported deaths from septic shock after taking Mifeprex. All the deaths have been associated with a rare bacterial infection called Clostridium sordellii.
With pressure from the FDA and consumer groups, Danco added a black box warning to RU-486 package insert alerting doctors of the risk of serious and sometimes fatal infection. Medical professionals have identified that RU-486 may block the body's natural glucocorticoid mechanism to suppress inflammation. The drug then promotes unhealthy inflammation which can lead to septic shock and death.
Symptoms of a Deadly Infection:
The FDA has issued an alert recommending that healthcare professionals be aware of atypical symptoms of infection in patients using the Abortion Pill. Symptoms include weakness, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever.
Physicians are now advised to immediately treat women suspected of having such an infection with antibiotics that include coverage of anaerobic bacteria such as Clostridium sordellii to ward off possible serious bloodstream infection. Such infection may lead to death, hysterectomy or other serious injury.
Heart-breaking Tragedy:
Eighteen-year-old Holly Patterson from the San Francisco Bay Area died in September 2003 after taking the Mifeprex drug for an abortion. After the treatment, she visited a local hospital for severe abdominal pain but was sent home. The victim's parents have filed a lawsuit against Danco Laboratories, the drug manufacturer, as well as The Population Council, which sponsored the drug through the FDA approval process. The lawsuit alleges that information about the risk of serious and fatal infection associated with the drug was withheld.
MIFEPREX NEWS
Two deaths linked to the RU-486 "abortion pill" have been added to 4 other deaths in the US whose users developed a deadly infection resulting from the bacteria Clostridium sordellii. (Mar-22-06) New Standard: Abortion Pill Deaths
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