The Population Council submitted a new drug application to theFood and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 14, 1996, for theprogesterone antagonist mifepristone (also known as RU 486)to be used as an abortifacient. The application was based ontwo studies, involving a total of 4600 women, of the drug'ssafety and efficacy in the termination of early pregnancies.Four years later, a review article in the Journal1 cited 14studies of mifepristone with more than 300 patients per studyand a total of 26,000 treated women. By the summer of 2000,mifepristone had been used to treat more . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Greene is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, director of obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and an associate editor of the Journal.
An interview with Dr. Greene can be heard at www.nejm.org.
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Svedas, E., Maciulaitis, R., Stakisaitis, D.
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(2005). Fatal Clostridium sordellii Toxic Shock Syndrome Following Medical Abortion. JWatch Infect. Diseases
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