RU-486, Why The Special Treatment?
Posted on September 20, 2006
Seldane, an effective allergy medication, was pulled off the market after eight deaths.
Tysabri, used to treat MS, was pulled from the market following reports of one death.
Lipobay, a cholesterol medication, was pulled after thirty one deaths.
Senator DeMint is rightly speaking out about RU-486:
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., vowed Tuesday to block President Bush’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration unless the agency moves to stop the sale of a popular abortion pill.
He made his move as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee prepared to vote today on the nomination of Andrew von Eschenbach, who has been acting commissioner for a year.
DeMint, among the staunchest anti-abortion lawmakers, said he is concerned about RU-486. The drug has caused at least eight deaths and put more than 200 women in the hospital since the FDA approved it four years ago, he said.
“Any other drug would have been removed from the market,” DeMint said at the Capitol.
Update from Jay: I usually don’t update other people’s posts, but then I usually don’t get emails from the Senate.
Jay-
Just read your post on DeMint and RU-486. Below is a more complete list of drugs pulled off the market. Note: 9 drugs have been removed from the market since 1998 that, unlike the proven dangers of RU-486, did not result in a single death.
- Wesley M. Denton
Communications Director
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Read below the fold for the huge list of drugs pulled off the market.
Lower Standards for RU-486?
RU-486
FDA has acknowledged the deaths of eight women associated with the drug, nine life threatening incidents, 232 hospitalizations, 116 blood transfusions, and 88 cases of infection. These and other cases have added up to a total of 1050 adverse event reports (AERs) as of March 31, 2006. These reports are based on the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System, a voluntary system, with inherent underreporting. Compare the adverse events associated with RU-486 with those of other drugs:
NeutroSpec (Appendicitis and infections)
December 19, 2005 – Palatin Technologies voluntarily suspended sales and marketing of NeutroSpec. No definitive determination was made regarding the relationship between NeutroSpec and reported adverse events.
Tysabri (M.S. and Crohn’s Disease)
February 28, 2005 – Biogen voluntarily suspended marketing of the drug as well as its use in clinical trials until more detailed information could be gathered on one death and one other adverse event.
Palladone (pain killer, stronger than morphine)
July 13, 2005 – Purdue Pharma agreed to voluntarily suspend sales and marketing of Palladone in the U.S. “To date, FDA is not aware of any patients who had life-threatening side effects from drinking alcohol while taking Palladone.”
Cylert (stimulant for ADHD)
May 2005 – Abbott chose to stop sales and market on Cylert. “FDA was aware of 13 reports of liver failure resulting in liver transplant or death…” “…the reporting reate for liver failure with pemoline is 10 to 25 times greater than the background rate of liver failure in the general population.” NOTE: RU-486 is 10 to 14 times more lethal to the mother than surgical abortion during the first 49 weeks of gestation when RU-486 is used in chemical abortions.
Bextra (arthritis)
April 7, 2005 – Pfizer voluntarily withdraws Bextra from the U.S. market. FDA had concluded that the overall risk versus benefit profile of Bextra was unfavorable. “The reporting rate to FDA’s spontaneous reporting system for these serious skin reactions was significantly greater for Bextra than other COX-2 selective agents.”
Vioxx (Osteoarthritis and menstrual cramps)
September 30, 2004 – Merck voluntarily withdraws Vioxx from U.S. market. FDA was in the process of reviewing the cardiovascular events to determine whether labeling changes were warranted when Merck decided to withdraw it.
Orlaam (detoxicant used in treatment clinics)
August 23, 2003 – Roxane stated that it was discontinuing the sale and distribution of the product after current inventory was depleted following reports of severe cardiac-related events among opiate-addicted patients.
Baycol (cholesterol)
August 8, 2001 – Bayer Pharmaceuticals voluntarily withdrew the product after FDA received reports of 31 deaths associated with the drug.
Raplon (muscle relaxer)
March 27, 2001 – Organon announced it was voluntarily withdrawing the drug after receiving reports of five deaths occurring during the administration of the drug.
Lotronex (IBS in women)
November 28, 2000 – Glaxo Wellcome informed FDA it was voluntarily withdrawing Lotronex, after FDA received a total of 70 cases of serious adverse events, of which 34 required hospitalization without surgery, 10 resulted in surgical procedures, and three resulted in death.
Rezulin (Type 2 Diabetes)
March 21, 2000 – Manufacturer agreed to withdraw Rezulin after the drug showed it was more toxic to the liver than two other drugs.
Trovan (bacterial infections)
June 1999 – FDA issued a public health advisory when it received over 100 reports of patients who were ill with symptoms of liver toxicity. FDA was aware of 14 cases in patients whose livers actually failed.
Duract (pain reliever)
June 22, 1998 – Wyeth-Ayerst announced it was withdrawing the analgesic, Duract, following reports of rare severe liver failure in patients in whom the drug was used for extended periods of time which was not in accordance with labeling instructions.
Tegison (Psoriasis)
March 1998 – Hoffman-La Roche voluntarily discontinued marketing Tegison because the product posed a greater risk of birth defects than a replacement product.
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8 Responses to “RU-486, Why The Special Treatment?”
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Paul-
Please call the man “Pro-Life” not “Anti-Choice.” Use the name by which the group describes itself.
That’s how polite debate occurs in a Republic.
Pro-Life groups shouldn’t call Pro-Choice forces “Anti-Life.” You wouldn’t like that would you?
Well, are they not “anti-life”?
People who oppose abortion are anti-choice by definition — they want the only outcome of a pregnancy to be birth. It doesn’t matter what they call themselves. This is not to say that their stance is necessarily wrong, but it is certainly anti-choice by any measure.
People who favor the availability of abortion and abotion drugs are not, despite Jay’s short-sighted quip, “anti-life.” They do not wish ALL pregnancies to be terminated, and many of them have happily given birth themselves.
The difference is neither subtle nor difficult to understand.
So Paul,
Do you support privatizing social security? Should I as a law abiding citizen be able to buy a gun (or multiple guns) if I so choose anytime I want without a 10 day waiting period? If I owned a house that I was going to rent out should I be able not rent it to a foreigner? Or only rent it to a Christian? Or not rent it to a gay person simply because I choose not to? Should I be able to fire a minority from my business without being questioned or called a racist? How about the Boyscouts? Can they as a private organization, be able to choose who they admit based on sexual orientation if they wished? Should a school or other government facility be able to choose to allow or disallow their facilities to be used by the BSA? Should a child be able to choose to pray in school? Even if it’s out loud where GASP! somebody might hear the word Jesus? How about school vouchers so I can choose to send my kids to a good school instead of one of these government run brain rotting facilities?
Or does Pro-Choice only apply to abortion?
Damn, nice post John. Hit the nail right on the head.
Jim DeMint is probably the biggest idiot in the Senate, although Tom Coburn is close.
Of course you are going to consider Coburn an idiot, you’re a flaming liberal. Coburn runs circles around the conservatism of any politician we have in Congress.
If he didn’t scare a liberal like you, It would be time for you to stock up on some Tysabri.
People who back abortion are both anti life and pro choice to commit murder. I take it as a compliment when you say I am anti choice to commit murder or anti choice for short.
The question is what the risk factor to the mother is when she takes the murder drug RU486. Hormonal contraceptives of all types are known to kill women by causing blood clots leading to stroke and heart attack but it is considered an expectable loss in order to control population. I guess the reasoning is that dead women don’t give birth to live babies. That reasoning should be no surprise coming from the pro choice to murder crowd.
AShiningCity,
Thanks. I was really hoping for answers to those 12 simple questions. Perhaps I’ll still get them. Perhaps not. But considering that Paul has commented on this site today on other posts I’m leaning toward “perhaps not.” These so called “pro-choice” people are usually nothing of the sort. And they don’t like to have that pointed out.