Subject: RU 486 Abortion Drug Linked With Birth Defects
Source: New Scientist Magazine (England); August 29, 2001

RU 486 Abortion Drug Linked With Birth Defects

Washington, DC -- Failed attempts in other countries to induce abortion
using an ulcer drug called misoprostol may be causing an epidemic of birth
defects around the world. Misuse of the drug is increasingly common as it
is improperly used as part of the RU 486 abortion drug process.

In Colombia, Brazil and the Philippines, the drug is readily available. An
informal survey by the British magazine New Scientist has also revealed
that abortions with the drug are taking place in the Dominican Republic,
Argentina, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa and Indonesia.

In Britain and the US, those dispensing the abortion drug RU486 also give
misoprostol to induce contractions to expel the dead unborn child,
although it is not licensed for this purpose. Searle, the maker of
misoprostol, has condemned its use in chemical abortions methods.

Searle, a unit of Pharmacia Corp. sent a letter to doctors last year
warning that misoprostol has been approved only to prevent ulcers caused
by htmlirin and similar drugs, not to help induce abortion. They warned
women would face severe medical problems if the drug was misused as a part
of the RU 486 chemical abortion process. It is legal, however, for doctors
to prescribe FDA-approved drugs for unapproved uses -- so called "off
label" use.

The Searle letter noted: "Serious adverse events reported following
off-label use of Cytotec in pregnant women include maternal or fetal
death; uterine hyperstimulation, rupture or perforation requiring uterine
surgical repair, hysterectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy; amniotic fluid
embolism; severe vaginal bleeding, retained placenta, shock, fetal
bradycardia and pelvic pain."

Taking misoprostol on its own only induces abortions about 40 per cent of
the time, so many babies are born after failed abortion attempts. Several
studies in Brazil, where up to 75 per cent of abortions involve
misoprostol, suggest the drug causes birth defects such as fused joints,
growth retardation and a condition known as Mbius syndrome, which is
characterised by paralysis of the face.

One recent study found that out of 93 children with defects associated
with Mbius syndrome, 34 percent of those infants had been exposed to
misoprostol, compared with just 4.3 per cent of the 279 infants in a
control group.

Another revealed that 49 percent of infants born with Mbius at seven
hospitals in Brazil had been exposed to misoprostol, whereas only 3
percent of 96 infants born with neural tube defects had been exposed to
the drug.

"I think [these results] are real. Statistically they are highly
significant," says Fernando Vargas of the University of Rio de Janeiro,
who took part in both studies. Because the abortion drug is used secretly,
it is hard to find out how many birth defects might be caused by it,
Vargas adds.