Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991 TAG: 9104090131
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
The disclosure comes days after New York Mayor David Dinkins launched a campaign in the United States to lift a ban that prohibits testing the pill.
French officials believe the death resulted from a synthetic fatty acid called Nalador, administered in conjunction with the pill. Health Ministry officials were to meet Wednesday to begin a study of the relationship between the two drugs.
RU 486, made by the Roussel Uclaf pharmaceutical company, is 95 percent effective when used with a synthetic fatty acid, called prostaglandin.
The 31-year-old woman, a heavy smoker in her 13th pregnancy, died this month of cardiovascular complications, the ministry said. Her name was not disclosed.
Officials previously warned of the risks to heavy smokers of Nalador, but the injectable drug remains the preferred choice of physicians.
Under French law, RU 486 must be used with a prostaglandin.
Thousands of abortions have been carried out in France with the RU 486 method since the pill was introduced to the public a year ago. France is the only country where the pill is sold.
Roussel Uclaf's international marketing director, Ariel Mouttet, suggested that the pill now would be administered with the synthetic prostaglandin Gemeprost, considered less risky.
Mouttet said she could not predict what effect the death or any treatment modification would have on approving RU 486 in the United States, where it is staunchly opposed by abortion foes.
Meanwhile, a noted researcher, Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu, announced a possible new combination of RU 486 with yet another prostaglandin, given orally and normally used for treating gastric troubles.
The new combination reduces uterine cramps and cardiovascular risks, said Baulieu, hormone research director at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research.
Dinkins wrote in a letter to President Bush last Thursday, "All the medical evidence so far suggests that RU 486 is a safe and effective alternative to early surgical abortion."
He cited the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade giving women the right to choose abortion and urged Bush to protect the "constitutionally guaranteed rights of women in the United States."
by CNB