Other Gynuity News - 2005

Recent Article on Misoprostol for Early Pregnancy Failure Generates Substantial Media Attention
August 2005 - In the August 25th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, two articles describe the important role of misoprostol for treatment of early pregnancy failure. In one article Zhang et. al. report results of a trial conducted with 652 women using 800mcg vaginal misoprostol for this indication. The study reports a success rate of 84% and a high level of safety and satisfaction with the method. In an accompanying editorial, Gynuity President Dr. Beverly Winikoff emphasizes that accumulated scientific evidence is now adequate to deem the use of misoprostol a safe and effective alternative for management of early pregnancy failure. She was interviewed in connection with this publication by CBS radio, the Wall Street Journal (8/25), and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/25), and the article was quoted in Reuters Health (8/24). Research on this topic is of particular importance in low-resource settings, where high-quality surgical care is not ready available to all.

To access a copy of the article, please follow this link. Copy and paste this entire link into your web browser:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/8/834?ijkey=iqovZiebH9ta2&keytype=ref&siteid=nejm

New Resources Available about Fatal Infection and Mifepristone Medical Abortion
July 2005 - On July 19, 2005, the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Public Health Advisory, and on July 22, 2005 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dispatch after news of the death of a California woman from Clostridium sordellii infection following mifepristone-misoprostol medical abortion was made public. This most recent death increased the concern surrounding the similar deaths of four other North American women (three from California, one from Canada) in the five years since mifepristone was approved by the FDA. The broad community of researchers, clinicians and advocates supportive of medical abortion lacks concrete answers about how and why these deaths occurred, which has led to widespread speculation. The uncertainty surrounding these deaths and the general response to them underscores the need for better information and wide dissemination of accurate scientific fact.

Gynuity and colleagues compiled a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and their answers aimed at giving medical abortion providers and women’s health advocates the language to discuss the occurrence of severe infections following mifepristone-misoprostol medical abortion so they are able to present the science in an informed and responsible manner. The FAQs pertain to general inquiries about the causes of death in these cases, the risk of fatal infection following medical abortion, and the safety of mifepristone-misoprostol medical abortion.

Follow this link to download FAQ and PPFA's issue of Mife Matters on this topic.