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The Gift that Keeps on Killing:

The Unholy Alliance of Bad Science and Political Correctness, Part II  

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“There are some remedies worse than the disease.”--Publilius Syrus

The use of bad science (sloppy or dishonest science) when hijacked by political correctness for a predetermined agenda is not only scary, it is lethal.  The two big reasons for marrying these illogical principles are the same old familiar culprits: money and ideology.  In the previous installment, we discussed the suppression of the truth about the real link between abortion and breast cancer.  There has been established a direct, causal link between the two that few are talking about, and has resulted in a lot of unnecessary pain and death—and all for sustaining a heartless industry and furthering a sinister political end. 

This article will deal with a similar area, that of the use of the drug known as RU486, also known as Mifepristone, the so called ‘abortion pill’.  Whether or not you are Pro Choice or Pro Life is irrelevant to this discussion; this drug is killing people.  As I have stated before, I am not a doctor.  I don’t even play one on TV.  I would rather you hear this information from real doctors in their own words, and see the unbelievable shenanigans that took place in this drug’s approval by the FDA.  You will of course draw your own conclusions, but I will share with you mine.  There is a lot of technical jargon in the following, but it should be fairly easy to follow.   

Here are some excerpts from RU486: the Hidden Effects, by Dr. Lawrence F. Roberge M.S., copyright 1998.  [Comments by me will be inserted in brackets.]

“RU486 (also known as Mifepristone) has been a drug with a great deal on controversy surrounding it. Early research was directed as a glucocorticoid receptor blocker for possible anti-cancer applications.¹ But the drug’s most promising application was as an abortifacient. There in lies the true controversy…As pro-abortion advocates chant a mantra of "safe legal abortion"; the final conclusion from the following research is more likely, "It maybe legal, but its’ not safe!"...

[Let’s take a look at how the drug works.]

“…RU486 blocks progesterone receptors in the uterine lining. Progesterone is necessary in the woman to maintain the lining of the uterus, which, during pregnancy is loaded with blood vessels, acts as a life support system for the developing embryo (life)…As the embryo implants into the uterine lining, the embryo grows dependent upon the mother’s uterine blood supply for nutrients, oxygen, and waste removal. Thus, any cut off of the blood supply would lead to the rapid death of the developing life…”

“…Now as the embryo is dead, the uterus may try to expel the embryo and its surrounding tissues. But, using RU486 alone results in only about a 60-65% ^2,3 success rate. Therefore many doctors give a second very powerful drug-prostaglandins (the best known is Misoprostol-also known as Cytotec ^TM ), which causes very strong (and sometimes very painful) uterine contractions to expel the dead embryo. Using the dual drug system, RU486 and Cytotec ^TM, the success rate rises to 84 to 95%. ⁴ In small cases, 5 to 15% of patients, the patient is required to undergo a surgical procedure called a dilation and curettage (D&C) to remove any remaining embryonic tissue ⁵...In some reports ⁶, the women report discharging the embryo into the toilet under great pain due in part to the powerful uterine contractions…”

[Did you catch that?  Only 60 to 65% success in expelling the fetus, so it must be used in conjunction with another drug, which only raises the odds to 84 to 95%.  (Dr. David Hager, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kentucky states that this drug has no effect on tubal or ectopic pregnancies.)  As high as 15% of the patients have to come in and get a D&C anyway.  Those are the lucky ones, because they at least get monitored by medical professionals.  Let’s take a look at the majority of the patients (who don’t come in for a procedure), and what they have to go through.]  

“…Several important points must be observed at this point. Use of RU486 to induce an abortion is not like a surgical abortion…A surgical abortion occurs at a certain moment of time and the patient then returns home. The process using RU486 requires that the woman be given the drug at the clinic and then return back to the clinic within 24 to 48 hours for the second drug (the prostaglandin-usually Cytotec ^TM ), where upon within 12 to 24 hours the woman will via strong uterine contractions expel the embryo.

“What this means is that the process requires more time for the action to occur (the abortion) as well as less monitoring by medical authorities for any complications. The patient must decide on her own IF complications warrant a return visit to the clinic or to the emergency room.  This decision making could be hampered by guilt, desire to maintain the abortion as a secret, or problems of obtaining transportation to the clinic or hospital.  Each delay factor increases the risk of death or further trauma. We will discuss this shortly. "

[Emphasis mine]

“Also the drug process (RU486) is different as the drug remains in the woman for a prolonged period of time…With regard to RU486, the half-life is 25.5 to 47.8 ⁷ hours, depending if the drug is given in a single or multiple doses…some effects of the drug RU486 may last well past (10 to 15 days) after administration and the time of the actual abortion. This writer questions whether women are properly informed of these aspects of the drug. The actions of having the drug last so long in the body may play a role in the following complications…”

[Here are some of the deadly side effects of this drug that they must face without professional medical supervision.]

“…In many of the studies with RU486, a common side effect is infections, usually in the pelvic or genital tract. ^{8, 9} One medical study stated that patients required a 6-week follow up treatment of antibiotics.¹⁰ Whenever the RU486 treatment led to an incomplete abortion (thus, requiring a D&C for a follow-up), up to 29.4% of the women reported an infection requiring antibiotic treatment. ¹⁰

[Emphasis mine]

“WHY? "

“Several factors are now understood. RU486 will itself suppress the immune system by causing the patient’s cortisol to rise.¹¹   Cortsol, a flucocotocoid hormone, acts to ..hinder the immune systems capacity to fight off bacterial infection. ¹²  

[Emphasis mine]

“Also, a study by Van Voorhis et al ¹³ demonstrated that…the effect of suppressing white cells is MAGNIFIED greatly by the combined presence of cortisol and RU486!...”

“…This may explain the persistence of infections in RU486 patients. The scenario is that first RU486 acts to damp down immune function, while cortisol levels rise, then cortisol and RU486 act together and further magnify immune system suppression, and finally, as Cytotec ^TM is given to the patient, the presence of Cytotec ^TM and high cortisol levels render the immune system incapable of defending against infection, especially an infection brought on by the ensuing abortion and subsequent uterine bleeding. This allows bacterial infections to gain a significant foothold in the pelvic or genital region and would require strong antibiotics to fight off and finally defeat the infection."

[Emphasis mine]

“Since the risk of infection is so prevalent, ALL users of RU486 need to be warned of the infection hazard. The problem is further complicated if the woman using RU486 has AIDS/HIV or other immunosuppressive diseases, since any infection would almost certainly run rampant in the patient and become a cause for a possible patient death.”

“…Margie Profet produced a study examining ¹⁴ menstruation as a defense factor against the development of female reproductive infection. In her work, she notes…microorganisms can be transported into the tract by either seminal fluid or via attachment to sperm. These various pathogens that "hitch a ride" in seminal fluid or on sperm, include E. Coli, Chlamydia, N. Gonorrhea (pathogen that causes Gonorrhea), Trichomonad (which causes Vaginitis), or even Cytomegalovirus ^{15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21}…ANY RU486 patient may have to refrain from active sexual relations for a significant period after receiving the drug to avoid a serious infection. Again, this writer wonders how many doctors will inform their patients of this point!”

[Emphasis mine.  Nearly 30% of the failed expulsions result in infection, and the treatment disables the body’s ability to fight that infection off.  Even if no infection is caused by the failure of the drug to expel the fetus, the patient is extra vulnerable to unrelated type infections due to sexual activity.  Here’s another side effect.]

“…During use of RU486 and Cytotec ^TM, medical studies cited patients reporting pain (79.1%) ²² or severe uterine cramps (80.5%) to such a degree that many required opiate based painkillers. The percentage of patients in the studies reporting pain ranged from 57.1% to as high as 79.1%...”

[Emphasis mine.  Far cry from the advertised ‘easy stay at home abortion treatment’, isn’t it?  This contributes to the next side effect: bleeding.  Pay close attention to the next paragraphs.]

“…The problem with this issue is that many patients go home after receiving RU486 and may not have easy access to powerful narcotic painkillers (which require a doctor’s prescription). Furthermore, in this pill popping, "self medicating", instant pain relief nation; use of over the counter medications would be dangerous, if not fatal. HOW?

“Use of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) will not relieve pain, BUT due to the NSAIDs capacity to block blood clotting, these drugs could enhance bleeding."

[Emphasis mine]

“One case was reported in January 1996 ²⁴ of a near death due to massive hemorrhaging (bleeding) by a patient using RU486. It must be noted that by the very nature of the RU486 abortion, the woman will bleed significantly during the process of expelling the embryo and associated tissues. "

[Emphasis mine]

“NSAIDs will only enhance the blood loss incited by a RU486 abortion and will only increase the risk of death to the woman! "

“One other curious research paper reported in 1990 ²³ that women who use RU486 to abort their first pregnancy and then used the pain reliever acetaminophen (commonly know by its trade name TYLENOL ^TM) has an INCREASE in reported pain. Scientists do not know why, but acetaminophen increased painful suffering in the presence of RU486. "

[Painkillers actually can increase the pain.  Once again, all of this is happening without medical supervision.  Because they are self medicating, they will take more painkillers and thus again increase the pain.]

“…As previously mentioned, bleeding is a serious issue when dealing with RU486 abortions. A series of studies ^{8, 10, 25, 26} demonstrates that 1 to 11% of the women using RU486 suffered profuse bleeding. Some cases even required blood transfusions!" ^{8, 24, 25, 26}

“If a woman is not told to avoid over the counter pain medications, like NSAIDs, this could clearly INCREASE the incidence of severe bleeding and possible death."

[Here is another side effect, more emotional/psychological than physical.]

“…one study ²⁷ by Wiedemann et al demonstrated how RU486 disrupts sleep: including total sleep time, slow wave sleep, and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep…”

 [Emphasis mine.  End of excerpts]

RU-486 was rushed through the FDA’s approval process under a provision reserved for ‘severe or life threatening disease or illness for which there is no safer treatment’.  (Treatments for cancer, AIDS, and leprosy fall under this umbrella.) The median total review time for new drug applications is 14.8 months.  FDA review time for RU-486 (mifepristone) was a mere six months, not because it was necessary to save lives but because it achieved the political aims of abortion on demand.

"Defining pregnancy as a life-threatening illness was a thoroughly political, not scientific, decision," -- Representative Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

The following is a series of quotes from an article in the January/February 2003 edition of Family Voice entitled RU-486 Deadly Approval, by Wendy Wright.  [my comments will be in brackets]

[First she describes some of the protocol the FDA required in implementation of the drug…]

“The regimen followed in Europe and in the U.S. trials of mifepristone had many elements, each necessary to protect the mother.  They included:

-an ultrasound examination to determine the date (since the complication rate skyrockets after seven weeks) and place (in uterus or fallopian tubes) of the pregnancy.

-that both drugs in the regimen be taken under a physicians observation."

[Notice that complications significantly increase after 7 weeks.  Many confused girls wait way past that date before they even decide upon a course of action.  In an effort to keep the situation quiet, they may elect a ‘stay at home’ remedy such as mifepristone, not realizing that their delay may cost them dearly.]

The Population Council did not oppose these requirements—that is, until the approval deadline approached.”

“An FDA Advisory Committee recommended additional restrictions “that this drug not be expanded to hands of physicians who are not already skilled in managing pregnancies, terminations and complications of both.”  However the Population Council insisted that the drug was safe.”

[Just how were they planning on enforcing this restrictive dispersal, I wonder?  And of course the Population Council (has a population control sound to it doesn’t it) is going to say it is safe—they are the ones that will be making money on the drug.]

"In June 2000, the Population Council leaked the FDA’s requirements to pro-abortion groups and the media.  A spokeswoman for Danco, the company created by the Population Council to market and distribute mifepristone, complained to the New York Times (June 8, 2000) that “the agency’s initial approach is more restrictive than we had envisioned.”

[Once again we see that if they can’t get what they want through the established legal protocols, they resort to social pressure, based not upon fact, but emotion.]

"A Firestorm of protest, from newspaper stories to letters from pro-abortion congressmen came down on the FDA.

…Reluctantly the FDA gave in to the pressure and dropped many requirements."

[This is where the FDA first drops the ball.  Once that first step of compromise of principle begins, it becomes easier to sell out.  Notice the slow progression of the FDA to becoming ‘partners in crime’ with Danco and the Population Council.]

“The FDA relies on data from clinical trials to determine if a drug and its regimen are safe.  Trials must meet rigid standards to ensure the results are unbiased and scientific.  For mifepristone, the Population Council submitted data derived from two French clinical trials and one in the United States.  None met the FDA’s standards."

 [This alone should have stopped it in its tracks, but once you start turning a blind eye, it is hard to suddenly put your foot down.] 

"Trial records from a “French government-supported abortion clinic” suggested fraud, evidence tampering and under-reporting of serious complications."

[At this point, they have clearly abandoned even the pretense of objectivity.]

"As for the women, almost 86 percent in one French trial and almost 93 percent in the other experienced at least one complication.  Ninety-nine percent of U.S. patients suffered, most with multiple complications and 23 percent experienced severe complications."

[Even the results of the dubious trials should have put a halt to approval of this drug.]

"However, in a classic case of negligence, the FDA did not review the results of the U.S. trial."

[Probably because they knew what they would find.]

"Surprisingly, one important test was never done.  Called the Pediatric Rule, it requires that drugs that will be used on adolescents to first be tested on adolescents…Yet for mifepristone, the FDA ignored this regulation—with no explanation—thus blatantly violating its own rule. "

[Quite possibly the largest potential age group that would be using this drug (that would favor a ‘stay at home’ solution), and they don’t test it on that age group!  That goes beyond negligence and into active collusion.  End of excerpts.]

Colleges tell us that the concept of the ‘slippery slope’ is a logical fallacy, and yet history has proven it over and over.  Who can protect us if our own ‘watchdog’ agencies are on the take (or at least willing to sacrifice public safety for political correctness)?  The answer is: nobody. No longer can we depend upon someone else to protect us from the scam artists and extortionists.  We must take the responsibility to protect ourselves, and unfortunately, that means a lot of work.  We need to be informed, and we need to take action.       

“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.”--Theodore Roosevelt

Darren Turney

02 January 2006

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Ulman, et al. RU486, Scientific American. 262, 6, June 1990, 42-48.

2. Sitruk-Ware et al, The Use of the Antiprogestin RU486 (Mifepristone) as an Abortifacient in Early Pregnancy-Clinical and Pathological Findings: predictive Factors for Efficacy. Contraception, 41, 1990, 221-243.

3. The RU486 Collaborative Group, Termination of Early Pregnancy by RU486 Alone or in Combination with Prostaglandin, Chinese J. Obst. & Gyn., 25, 62, 1990, 31-34.

4. McKinley et al, The Effect of Dose of Mifepristone and Gestation on the Efficacy of medical Abortion with Mifepristone and Misoprostol, Human Reproduction, 8, 1993, 1502-1505.

5. Chan et al, Blood Loss in Termination of early Pregnancy by Vacuum Aspiration and by combination of Mifepristone and Gemeprost, Contraception, 47,85,1993, 85-95.

6. Peyron et al, Early termination of Pregnancy with Mifepristone (RU486) and the Orally Active Prostaglandin Misoprostol, N. Eng. J. Med., 328, 1993, 1509-1513.

7. Heikinheimo, O., Pharmacokinetics of Antiprogesterone RU486 in women During Multiple Dose Administration, J. Steroid Biochem., 32, 1A, 1989, 21-25.

8. Hill et al, The Efficacy of Oral Mifepristone (RU 38, 486) with a Prostaglandin E1 Analog Vaginal Pessary for the Termination of Early Pregnancy: Complications and Patient Acceptability, Am. J. Obstet & Gyn., 162, 1990, 414-417.

9. Rodger et al, Induction of Therapeutic Abortion in Early Pregnancy with Mifepristone in  Combination  with Prostaglandin Pessary, Lancet, ii, 1987, 1415-1418.

10. World Health Organization, Pregnancy Termination with Mifepristone and Gemeprost: A Multicenter Comparison Between Repeated Doses and a Single Dose of mifepristone, Fertil. Steril., 56, 1, 1990, 32-40.

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17. James-Holmquest et al, Differential Attachment by Piliated and Nonpiliated Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Human Sperm, Infect. Immun., 9, 5, 1974, 897-902.

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            88-91.

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21. Lang et al, Demonstration of Cytomegalovirus in Semen, N. Eng. J. Med., 287, 1972, 756-758.

22. Norman et al, Uterine Contractility and Induction of Abortion in Early Pregnancy by Misoprostol and Mifepristone, Lancet, 338, 1991, 1233-1236.

23. Weber, B. and Fontan, J.B., Acetaminophen as a Pain Enhancer During Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy with Mifepristone and Sulprostone, Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 34, 1990, 609.

 24. Glasow, Richard D., RU486 "Near-Death" Accident in Iowa Raises Safety Questions, The RU486 Report, Jan 1996, 1-4.

25. Rodger et al, Induction of Early Abortion with Mifepristone (RU486) and Two Different Doses of Prostaglandin Pessary (Gemeprost), Contraception, 39, 1989, 497-502.

26. WHO Task Force on Post-Ovulatory Methods of Fertility Regulation, Termination of Pregnancy with Reduced Doses of Mifepristone, BMJ, 307, 1993, 532-537.

27. Wiedmann et al, Antiglucocorticoid Treatment Disrupts Endocrine Cycle and Nocturnal Sleep Pattern, Eur. Arch. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci., 241, 6, 1992, 372-375.

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