Abortion Drug May Have Caused Deaths From Off-Label Use

A preliminary study conducted at the University of Michigan
has indicated that off-label use of the controversial abortion medication
RU-486’s companion drug misoprostol may be linked a handful of rare, fatal infections.

The drug misoprostol is FDA-approved to be taken by mouth
along with RU-486 to end a pregnancy. But many women have received the drug
vaginally as part of the two-drug combination, a method of delivery not
evaluated by the FDA.

The study was published online and will soon be available in
print in the Journal of Immunology. Out of the hundreds of thousands of women
who have taken the drug successfully, there have been eight reported deaths
attributed to cases of infection of the Clostridium bacteria. Of the eight
women who lost their lives, six were infected with Clostridium sordellii, which
very rarely causes illness. The other two were infected with another related
form of the Clostridium bacteria.

The study should provide doctors who have administered the
drug vaginally enough evidence to ensure that the medication is no longer
delivered in this unapproved manner.