ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 23, 1993                   TAG: 9310230207
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

STUDY: EXISTING DRUGS GIVE SAFE ABORTIONS

A combination of two drugs already available in the United States could be used to give women safe, at-home abortions for less than $6 plus the cost of doctor's visits, according to a small, preliminary study.

The drugs, an ulcer medicine called misoprostol and an anti-cancer drug called methotrexate, induced abortions in eight of the 10 women who participated in the study.

The drugs caused negligible side effects, said Drs. Mitchell D. Creinin and Philip D. Darney, who did the study at the University of California, San Francisco. Results appear in the October issue of the journal Contraception.

The authors and other experts cautioned that the technique must be proven safe and effective in more than just 10 women before being used outside of tightly supervised studies. - Associated Press 


 by CNB