Woman Sues Ohio Abortion Facility Saying RU 486 Ruined Her Fertility
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 8, 2004
Akron, OH (LifeNews.com) — An Ohio woman is suing an Akron abortion business saying that the chemical abortion she was given has left her unable to become pregnant.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper, Dana Powell, 30, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Akron Women’s Center for Choice abortion business. The suit also names abortion practitioner Raymond Robinson and a staff member.
Powell’s lawsuit says she had cramping and bleeding associated with an October 2002 pregnancy and went to the abortion business. Staff there told her the pregnancy was not problematic.
Powell opted to have an abortion and was given the RU 486 abortion drug, recently responsible for the deaths of teenagers in Sweden and California.
According to the Journal, Powell took the first drug to kill the baby and then suffered severe cramping after taking the Cytotec drugs to expel the dead baby from her uterus. The abortion facility told her to take a second Cytotec pill and call back the next day.
The newspaper reports that Powell’s condition grew worse over the next month until she was forced to go to Akron City Hospital. Hospital staff diagnosed her with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in the left fallopian tube, leaving her unable to conceive.
Powell’s lawsuit says the abortion business failed to properly detect the ectopic pregnancy.
In fact, Powell is lucky to be alive.
Danco Laboratories, the maker of RU 486 says the abortion drug should not be taken by women who have such pregnancies. The company points to an abortion of an undetected ectopic pregnancy that led to the death of Brenda Vise in 2001.
In fact, the FDA requires those administering the RU 486 abortion drug to have been trained at performing ultrasounds and be able to detect ectopic pregnancies.
"This lawsuit emphasizes a sad irony. Although the RU-486 procedure exposes women to serious health risks while ending a healthy pregnancy, it does nothing to end a dangerous ectopic pregnancy," Mark Lally, Legislative Counsel of Ohio Right to Life, told LifeNews.com.
"The FDA approval letter for RU-486 emphasized the importance of a provider’s ability to diagnose ectopic pregnancy and the FDA protocol calls for Cytotec to be administered at the provider’s office 2 days after the RU-486 and for the patient to return for a checkup in about 2 weeks," Lally explained.
Lally said it appears Powell was told to take the Cytotec drug at home and that there should have been more follow-up by the abortion business.
"These two visits could have provided additional opportunities to detect the ectopic pregnancy," Lally said.
Robinson, the abortion practitioner, lives in Upper Arlington and has performed abortions in Dayton before.
Related web sites:
Ohio Right to Life – https://www.ohiolife.org
