FDA Commissioner Faces Pressure to Limit Abortion Pill After Study Finds Increased Risks

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary’s deeply rooted belief in data-based decision making could be put to the test after a new study found that mifepristone, the drug responsible for more than half of the nation’s abortions, is more dangerous than previously known.

Makary told PBS’ Amna Nawaz at Semafor’s World Economy Summit over the weekend that “I have no plans to take action on mifepristone.” He did, however, hint that “here is an ongoing set of data that is coming into the FDA on mifepristone” that could change the agency’s position on the pill.

“So, if the data suggests something or tells us that there’s a real signal, we can’t promise we’re not going to act on that data,” Makary continued.

Four days later, a new study showed that the rate of life-threatening complications due to mifepristone is at least 22 times higher than what the FDA and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the drug, indicate on its label.

The researchers at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who successfully completed the “largest known study of the abortion pill,” emphasized that the “FDA should reinstate the original patient safety protocols that were required when mifepristone was first approved.” (Read more from “FDA Commissioner Faces Pressure to Limit Abortion Pill After Study Finds Increased Risks” HERE)