This month, it was reported that two of the country’s largest pharmaceutical retailers will begin dispensing abortion-inducing medications mifepristone and misoprostol. This roll-out will start in “selected” pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois following suit in the ensuing weeks and months. What has not changed is that, for now, a prescription will still be required to procure these medications from either a telemedicine service or an in-person provider.
Before this announcement, the FDA limited the dispensing of mifepristone and misoprostol to a subset of specialty offices and clinics due to safety concerns. Apparently, it is no longer “unsafe.”
Or is it?
As I have previously reported, ingesting mifepristone and misoprostol unsupervised carries definable risks. The risk of hemorrhage and possible death from an ectopic pregnancy is not just theoretical.
In a 2019 mifepristone post-marketing report released by the FDA, there were 97 ectopic pregnancies and 24 deaths reported in the 18-year period following the release of mifepristone in 2000. In addition, 4,195 adverse events were reported from 2000-2018. During that same time frame, 599 women required blood transfusions after ingesting mifepristone to induce an abortion.
These are hardly rigorous nor complete data but rather data reported voluntarily by an industry — FDA and Big Pharma — that stretches truth and data like a rubber band.
But Wait, There’s More
Beyond the risks already addressed, there’s the additional risk of an undiagnosed malignancy. No, mifepristone and misoprostol don’t cause cancer.
