CWA Posts Public Documents Revealing RU-486 Complications

Trail of Evidence: CWA Posts Public Documents Revealing RU-486 Complications

1/24/2005 12:39:00 PM


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To: National Desk

Contact: Rebecca S. Jones of Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000, ext. 126

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As tens of thousands of Americans gather here today for the annual March for Life, Concerned Women for America (CWA) is posting on its Web site public documents revealing approximately 600 serious complications suffered by women who used the abortion drug RU- 486.

"Abortion proponents claim that RU-486 is safe. These documents prove otherwise," said Wendy Wright, CWA's senior policy director. "When the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved RU-486 under intense political pressure in the waning days of the Clinton administration, the extent of the damage was anyone's guess. Now evidence is available through Adverse Events Reports filed by doctors, Danco (the drug's distributor) and women themselves. Healthy women who take RU-486 can end up with life-threatening, even fatal, complications. These reports show case upon case of women being rushed to hospital emergency rooms after taking RU-486."

The FDA produced these documents in response to CWA's lawful request for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FDA ensured the women's medical privacy by redacting personal-identifying medical information. This allows the public to understand the dangers of the drug while protecting the identities and privacy of the women who were adversely affected.

"While not all adverse events are reported, these reports confirm three deaths caused by RU-486, including 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died after taking the drug in September 2003," said Wright. Patterson's parents were unaware of her pregnancy until after her death, and have since filed a lawsuit against Danco, Planned Parenthood of Golden Gate and other parties allegedly involved.

"RU-486 has one purpose: to kill a human being. These reports show that many times there are two victims. Women have a right to know the risks associated with RU-486, to know what's happened to other women who have taken this drug. If this information had been available earlier, perhaps some women could have been spared the devastating effects," said Wright.

The Adverse Events Reports can be viewed at http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7282/CWA/life/index.htm.

Women who suffer, or doctors who treat, complications caused by RU-486 can file an Adverse Event Report through the FDA's MedWatch Web site, found at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/.

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Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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www.cwfa.org/

Mission Statement

The mission of CWA is to protect and promote Biblical values among all citizens - first through prayer, then education, and finally by influencing our society - thereby reversing the decline in moral values in our nation.

Vision Statement

The vision of CWA is for women and like-minded men, from all walks of life, to come together and restore the family to its traditional purpose and thereby allow each member of the family to realize their God-given potential and be more responsible citizens.

Their political motivations are all too transparent. Have someone other than a faith-based 'scientist' look at it, and maybe I'll pay more attention.

They have an agenda of ending safe, legal abortion AND ending birth control options. They are right wing antiwomen religious morality.

As for RU-486, of COURSE it isn't 100% safe. Every single drug out there has side effects and risks, even aspirin. There will be an unfortunate few who have complications from its use. The VAST majority will have it work exactly as it was intended to, with discomfort but nothing more serious. Drugs are targeted poisons, and they often hit a few things outside the target.

Hell, you can die from drinking too much WATER.

This is hysterical bullshit designed to scare morons who don't know that every single medical treatment we have has a risk vs. benefit equation behind it.

they are absolutely awful -- distilled republican evil.

I wouldn't believe anything that passed through their fingers. They are the bottom of the bottom feeders of the far right.

so tell the CWA to take a hike!

:-)

I clicked on a set of reports at random, here:

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7298/MEDIA/life/index.htm
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7282/CWA/life/index.htm

... before realizing it was a pdf doc, which I hate. The docs consist of images/photocopies, which can't be copied and pasted. Here's the one I looked at; it has 5 reports in it:
http://www.cwfa.org/ru486/I/169-176.pdf

I particularly like the one about the woman who was hospitalized (after using RU-486) apparently because she had taken an overdose of other drugs, including Tylenol. She had previously called the clinic to ask about using alcohol. She had liver failure when she was hospitalized. The report contains NO suggestion of any adverse effects from RU-486, and says "current thinking was that the event was related to some sort of drug overdose (Tylenol)". "Follow-up information" is completely blacked out.

Ah, and next up is the report of the middle-aged man with meningioma who was prescribed mifepristone by a physician and was dispensed misoprostol instead by a pharmacist. (These are the two drugs that make up RU-486.) The report actually says that if he's just been prescribed RU-486, he would have got the right thing.

The first case in the package is a woman who suffered excessive bleeding and was treated, and who appeared to have retained products of conception. The second appears to be a self-report from a woman who claimed to have experience heavy bleeding and to have passed out, but who refused a transfusion at hospital, then failed to keep a follow-up appointment, ultimately was found to have "probable uterine <deleted>", and then refused treatment and had no further follow-up. There is one other case of heavy bleeding and surgical abortion following use of RU-486 in that package.

Five cases. Two complications from the RU-486-induced abortion, no serious sequelae. Another complication apparently relating to the RU-486-induced abortion but sadly lacking in verifiable information. One drug overdose having nothing to do with the patient's use of RU-486. And one dispensing error by a pharmacist to a man who wasn't the least bit interested in having an abortion.

Very conclusive, that.

I wonder what we'd find if we asked for the records on Tylenol ...

Not a damn thing.

Their motives are not "health" related in any sense.

How many complications are there to pregnancy and birth? If there are fewer complications from this drug than from pregnancy and birth, then this drug is a safer alternative.

And I'm not going to believe this group to tell the truth about the number of complications.

I'd like for once to hear someone research so carefully complications related to use of Viagra.

Their BoD is mostly male.

And they inflate their numbers so they can pretend to be larger than NOW, which really is the largest and most effective Women's Advocacy organization in the US.

CWA counts as their membership any woman who belongs to a church that has a chapter as a member. So Church B could have 60 women, and 15 of them are CWA, but CWA counts all 60 as belonging to CWA.

My mother ran into this a couple years ago - she considers CWA to be complete loons - when her former mega-church started a CWA chapter, and she suddenly got a membership card.

Psycho hose-beasts is all I can say.

Next up: CWA says "Pregnancy completely safe, 0 mortality rate! It makes you young!"

Riiiiiiight.

It is rare for a woman to have very serious side effects from this drug. Many drugs can have a very bad side effect to them. That doesn’t mean you make it illegal for everybody.

Just an important fact, not all deaths due to this drug were abortion related.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/aboru486.htm

I don’t believe everything that a conservative group says, even if they do give normal sources.

Another important fact is that the “abortion pill” has been used for other purposes.

http://www.myhealthsense.com/F001010_ru486.html

No mention of Viagra...hmmm.

From what I heard they support Nicaraguan contras. What is this group Ann Coulter's clones?