FDA allows pharmacies to dispense abortion pills to patients

CNN
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows licensed pharmacies to dispense the abortion drug mifepristone to people with a prescription.

Mifepristone can be used with another drug, misoprostol, to terminate a pregnancy. Previously, these tablets could only be ordered, prescribed, and dispensed by authorized healthcare providers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the FDA said it would no longer enforce a rule allowing pills to be mailed and requiring people to get the first of two drugs in person at a clinic or hospital. .

As of Tuesday, the face-to-face requirement has been completely removed, according to Danco Laboratories, which markets the drug under the brand name Mifeprex. Accredited pharmacies can dispense medicines directly to people with a certified prescription.Updated information posted on Tuesday FDA website.

“At a time when people across the country are struggling to access abortion care services, this change is critical to expanding access to medical abortion services and providing safe and effective options for early termination. We will provide healthcare providers with additional ways to deliver to patients who are pregnant,” Danko said in a statement.

You can take the medicine from the first day of your last period up to 11 weeks after your last period, although laws vary by state. Telemedicine prescriptions are optional in some states. You can also get the pill by traveling to a state where abortion is legal.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, medical abortions are used in more than half of all abortions in the United States, surpassing surgical procedures for the first time in 2020.

Pharmacy chain CVS said in a statement Tuesday that it was reviewing the updated requirements.

“FDA’s Updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Drug Safety for Mifepristone to determine requirements for dispensing in states that do not restrict the dispensing of drugs prescribed for elective abortion. We are considering sex program certification requirements.”

Walgreens also said it was considering a change.

The FDA’s move comes days after a new Justice Department legal opinion declared that federal law allows the US Postal Service to deliver abortion pills. The Biden administration believes it will help protect access to abortion in states that enacted bans following Supreme Court rulings. To overthrow Roe v. Wade.

of Law firm opinion Effective December 23, 2022, the Comstock Act of 1873 authorizes “certain drugs that may be used to perform an abortion if the recipient of the drug lacks the intent of the sender to use the drug We do not prohibit the mailing of

“Because of the wide variety of ways in which recipients in every state can legally use such drugs, including performing abortions, simply mailing such drugs to a particular jurisdiction does not make the sender illegal. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that it is intended to be used for

After overturning Roe v. Wade last year, the USPS asked the OLC for advice on whether federal law prohibits the mailing of mifepristone and misoprostol.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Attorney General Merrick Garland recommended working with the FDA and other federal agencies to protect access to such drugs that some states have sought to ban. issued a statement of promise.

“A state cannot ban mifepristone because it disagrees with the FDA’s expert judgment of its safety and efficacy,” Garland said. statement.