FDA: One of the Two Recent Abortion Drug Deaths Not RU 486 Related 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 10, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that the death of one of two women to die recently from using the abortion drug RU 486 was not actually related to the dangerous abortion drug. The agency said it is still investigating why the woman died but said the drug did not cause her death.
"Of the two most recent deaths … one has been determined to be unrelated to an abortion or to the use of Mifeprex and misoprostol and the other, with symptoms of infection, continues to be under investigation," the FDA said in a statement.
When the agency announced the deaths of the two women weeks ago it brought the total number of women in the U.S. who have died from using the abortion drug to seven. Ten women have died worldwide.
The woman in the second case died in a similar manner as most of the other American women — by contracting a rare lethal infection from a bacteria found in the woman’s vagina.
Researchers believe the women contracted the infections because Planned Parenthood told them to take the second part of the two drug abortion process vaginally. The FDA recommends taking both pills orally.
After the announcement of the two additional deaths, Planned Parenthood indicated it would change its protocols and tell women to use the drugs orally.
The FDA is planning a joint conference in May with Centers for Disease Control officials in Atlanta to study why so many women have died from using the abortion drug.
Pro-life groups and the family of Holly Patterson, a teen who died in September 2003 after using the RU 486 drugs, have called for the passage of a Congressional bill taking the drug off the market while its safety can be reviewed.
