A new study released by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that 1 in 10 women who take mifepristone to induce abortions experience severe complications, a number at least 22 times as high as reported on the drug’s label.
The study, described by the think tank as the “largest-known study of the abortion pill,” found that “10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.” It explained that the “real-world” rate of the serious adverse events is “at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of ‘less than 0.5 percent’ in clinical trials reported on the drug label.”
The think tank urged the FDA to “immediately reinstate its earlier, stronger patient safety protocols to ensure physician responsibility for women who take mifepristone” and investigate the harms caused by the abortion pill.
According to Danco Laboratories, the abortion pill is ” a safe and effective option for ending early pregnancy.”
The Ethics and Public Policy Center stated that the pill’s manufacture and the FDA base their data on the “results of 10 clinical trials with a total of 30,966 participants, less than 0.5 percent of whom reportedly experienced serious adverse reactions.” For the study, however, the think tank “analyzed real-world insurance claims data for 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions,” finding that the nearly 11% adverse event rate is far higher than the summary reported on the drug label.
In October, ten members of the pro-life organization Charlotte Lozier Institute filed a lawsuit against Sage Publishing for retracting a series of research papers on the dangers associated with abortion pills. The lawsuit accuses the publisher of violating California’s contract laws by pulling three specific studies from their journal, two of which focused on the pill’s risks.
