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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 4/4/16

FDA Change to the "Abortion Pill" Overrated

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A significant portion of medical abortion cost is the medication itself. Imagine how much the cost of abortion would decrease if Mifeprex were cheaper. Imagine how much access would increase.

Danco Laboratories declines to release its sales numbers or profits. However, they estimated in in 2000 that they would sell $3.7 milllion dollars worth of pills . By those same projections their profits would have increased to $34.2 million by 2004.

Some argue that pharmaceutical companies such as Danco Laboratories deserve to charge prices far above the cost of materials and production. They argue that it is to compensate for innovation and research. However, Danco Laboratories has no such claim, as they never did the original research!

Mifepristone was originally studied and developed by Roussel Uclaf, a French pharmaceutical company. In 1994 Roussel Uclaf gave the drug rights to the Population Council, a non-profit organization focused on increasing access to reproductive health. It was Population Council that funded the necessary clinical trials to gain FDA approval in the United States. Danco Laboratories was a company that was created solely to manufacture and distribute Mifeprex.

Danco Laboratories has received very little criticism for the high cost of Mifeprex. Abortion providers are obviously reluctant to sour any relationship with the only provider of an essential medicine in this country. Some even laud Danco Laboratories for taking on large amounts of political, financial, and physical risk by providing a crucial medication for such a controversial issue such as abortion. On the other hand, Danco Laboratories has had its own share of financial drama that calls this selfless dedication to women's health into question.

The launching of Danco Laboratories in the 1990s was delayed by several years and plagued by financial lawsuits. One investor even stated, "This was supposed to be a wonderful drug for American women, a project I was happy to be involved in. Now I think it's just people smelling a lot of money." Is Danco Laboratories really such a selfless company? Or are they just another company exploiting yet another vulnerable population in a desperate situation?

While the update to the FDA labeling of mifepristone will have a positive impact on abortion access in this country, it doesn't change a woman's access to healthcare in any fundamental way. The constitutionality of TRAP laws is still being debated. Medical providers are still being forced to practice medicine based on legislation, not the most recent scientific evidence. Pharmaceutical companies continue to reap unethically high profits to the detriment of patients.

While I did breath a small sigh of relief when I heard the FDA announcement, it has no impact on the way we approach abortion in this country. It's the same old broken system; Danco Laboratories simply figured out a way to finagle within the system and score a point this time. It might have bought us a little wiggle room, but it hasn't changed our trajectory. I don't sleep any easier at night.

JESS GUH, MD is a member of ThisCantBeHappening!, the independent, uncompromised, five-time Project Censored Award-winning online alternative news site. Her work, and that of colleagues JOHN GRANT, DAVE LINDORFF, GARY LINDORFF, ALFREDO LOPEZ, LINN WASHINGTON, JR. and the late CHARLES M. YOUNG, can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net

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Jess Guh, MD Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Jess Guh hails from a home just outside of Philadelphia where two Taiwanese immigrants were delightfully surprised to have raised a queer, outspoken radical. She attended Stanford University where she officially majored in film and unofficially (more...)
 

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