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  • Title: RU-486: a continuing saga.
    Journal: Abort Res Notes; 1988 Dec; 17(3-4):1-2. PubMed ID: 12342356.
    Abstract:
    A month after the approved marketing of RU-486 in France as a nonsurgical option for abortion, the company Roussel-Ulcaf withdrew the product in response to boycott threats and threats to company officials and their families. The government of France approved the drug on an experimental basis under the name of Mifepristone; the conditions of the approval were that the drug had to be used within the 1st 49 days after the 1st day of last menstruation and had to be administered under medical supervision at a hospital with the expertise to perform an abortion. Following trials in France, China, and the United Kingdom, RU-486, when administered in a single dose of 3 pills, was observed to have a 95% success and to be very safe. The international boycott and personal threats propelled a convention of more than 1,000 physicians in the World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Rio de Janeiro to sign a petition that advocated to Roussel-Uclaf the importance of insuring "that women have access to the benefits of scientific progress." The World Health Organization regretted the withdrawal of the drug as 1 off-shoot of the decision would be that developing companies would not be able to run clinical trials on RU-486. Shortly after the company's decision to remove the drug, the French Minister of Health, Claude Evin, ordered a continuation of experimental trials of RU-486. While no US companies have demonstrated interest in the drug, boycotts and threats exacerbate product liability coverage problems. However, should it prove effective in treating breast cancer, endometriosis or ectopic pregnancy, RU-486 may begin to increase in distribution and use.
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