Re: Death at 18 Spurs Debate Over a Pill for Abortion
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Thu Sep 25 10:42:24 2003
Lost in the debate is the sad story of a young frightened woman who died
quite alone. Such a waste.
art
At Thu, 25 Sep 2003, Dean Huffman wrote:
>
>..
>
>NY Times 9/24/2003
>
>Death at 18 Spurs Debate Over a Pill for Abortion
>
>By GINA KOLATA
>
>Last Wednesday, a California teenager died at a hospital in Pleasanton,
>just days after taking prescription pills to abort her early pregnancy. The
>circumstances surrounding her death are unclear, and an autopsy is under way.
>
>But battle lines are already being drawn, with opponents of abortion saying
>the death of the woman, Holly Patterson, 18, shows why the abortion pills
>are too dangerous to remain on the market, while abortion providers say it
>shows no such thing.
>
>"We're sorry to say that this is what we warned would happen," said Wendy
>Wright, senior policy director at Concerned Women of America, which opposes
>abortions. "This drug needs to be taken off the market."
>
>Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion
>Providers, said that it was not clear why Ms. Patterson died, but that Ms.
>Wright's reaction was no surprise. "We expect the antis to jump all over
>it," he said.
>
>The pill, mifepristone, formerly known as RU-486, has long had a symbolic
>significance transcending its medical use. When it was approved by the Food
>and Drug Administration three years ago, advocacy groups insisted that it
>would change the nature of abortions, taking them out of clinics, where
>women might face harassment by abortion opponents, and into the privacy of
>a doctor's office. Abortion opponents said it was dangerous and would lead
>to suffering and deaths.
>
>So far, neither has been right. Eighty-eight percent of all abortions are
>in clinics, said Pamela Long, a spokeswoman for Danco Laboratories of New
>York, mifepristone's distributor. While more and more women are having
>nonsurgical abortions, known as medical abortions, not all clinics offer
>them and just 18 percent of eligible women choose them, said Vicki Saporta,
>president of the National Abortion Federation.
>
>On the other hand, said Dr. Richard Hausknecht, Danco's medical director,
>"the drug has turned out to be quite safe, quite effective." Some 160,000
>to 165,000 American women used it from Sept. 28, 2000, when it was
>approved, through last March.
>
>One woman in Canada died of an infection during the drug's clinical trials
>and an American woman who had an undetected tubal pregnancy died after she
>took the drug. There were 264 adverse reactions, including infections,
>bleeding, allergic reactions and tubal pregnancies.
>
>But it is unclear what happened to Holly Patterson. Did she have enough
>medical supervision while taking the pills? When did she seek medical
>attention? Did she wait until it was too late? Did she tell the doctors in
>the emergency room that she had taken mifepristone? Why, in fact, did she die?
>
>Ms. Patterson received mifepristone on Sept. 10 from Planned Parenthood
>Golden Gate, a clinic near her home in Livermore, a San Francisco suburb.
>Erin Brooks, a clinic spokeswoman, said she could not reveal any details
>because of rules on patient confidentiality.
>
>The procedure for a medical abortion is for a woman to take mifepristone,
>which ends her pregnancy. Two days later, she takes another drug,
>misoprostol, which elicits uterine contractions that result in a
>miscarriage. The Food and Drug Administration requires that women be
>counseled about the procedure, sign informed consent forms and be provided
>with telephone numbers of medical personnel in the event of complications.
>
>"I can tell you that every woman who comes into a Planned Parenthood
>affiliate for a medical abortion is counseled extensively about the
>procedure," said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, a Planned Parenthood official.
>
>Some accounts say Ms. Patterson had severe pain and bleeding on Sept. 14,
>went to a hospital and was sent home with painkillers. She was back on
>Sept. 16, dying the next day.
>
>"She didn't have someone to care for her who recognized the danger she was
>in," said Dr. Donna Harrison, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Berrien
>Springs, Mich. Dr. Harrison is author of a petition by the American
>Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists asking that the
>drug be pulled from the market.
>
>"That is the crux of our complaint," Dr. Harrison said. "Mifeprex," she
>said, referring to the drug's brand name, "has effectiveness. It does
>work." But, she continued, "this is a dangerous drug that is essentially
>unregulated, which makes it more dangerous."
>
>Dr. Hausknecht heard a different account from the Planned Parenthood
>clinic. "There were many phone calls from the time she came into the clinic
>until that Sunday, when she turned up in the emergency room," he said. "She
>had a great deal of pain and wanted refills of her prescription."
>
>The Planned Parenthood clinic, he said, tried to reach her last Monday and
>Tuesday but to no avail.
>
>"At least some of the medical people did the right thing," Dr. Hausknecht
>said. "Before we jump to conclusions, we ought to have facts."
--
art fougner, md
ich bin ein New Yorker
