Doctors receive warning about mifepristone. (FYI).

The maker of mifepristone has sent a letter to doctors, informing them that six women have become seriously ill, and two have died, after undergoing medical abortion using the drug in combination with misoprostol. (1) Three women suffered bleeding when ectopic pregnancies, which are not terminated by the drug regimen, ruptured; one of these women died. Another two medical abortion patients developed serious bacterial infections, and one died. The sixth woman, a 21-year-old, suffered a heart attack three days after taking the drug combination. The letter, written in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration, was intended partly to remind physicians to report any serious adverse events occurring among women who take mifepristone. In particular, it warns doctors to "be mindful of the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy," which is not always possible to diagnose during the pelvic exam typically performed before a woman undergoes an early abortion. Although the drug maker has not revealed the number of women who have abortions using mifepristone, it maintains that the events reported in the letter "represent an extremely small incidence relative to overall usage." Moreover, the manufacturer emphasizes that there is no evidence directly linking use of the drug to these illnesses.

(1.) Okie S, Physicians sent abortion pill alert, Washington Post, Apr. 18, 2002, p. A2.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.