91É«ÇéƬ

DOCTORS are now carrying out a quarter of the abortions in France with
a controversial pill called RU-486, according to its manufacturer, Roussel
UCLAF. The latest figures released by the company show that RU-486 induces
abortions in 96 per cent of women who take it in combination with a prostaglandin.
But despite the success of the drug, Roussel UCLAF says that it has no plans
to market it abroad.

The company’s decision drew criticism last week from scientists attending
the Second International Conference on 91É«ÇéƬ Law and Ethics in London.
David Baird of the University of Edinburgh said that he felt ‘extremely
angry’ that Roussel UCLAF was withholding the drug. ‘It’s the first time
I know of where the distribution of a drug is limited not for safety reasons
but political reasons,’ he said.

According to Andre Ulmann, the medical director of the company, the
distribution of the drug has been held back by the threat of boycotts from
anti-abortionists, the fear of litigation and pressure from the West German
company Hoechst, the majority shareholder in Roussel UCLAF.

More than 20 000 women in France have received RU-486 since its launch
last September (This Week, 8 October 1988). But shortly after the launch
of RU-486 in France, an outcry from anti-abortion groups led Roussel to
suspend production. In the US, campaigners threatened to boycott goods sold
there by Hoechst, which earn that company one-fifth of its total annual
sales of $20 billion.

The French government ordered Roussel UCLAF to resume production of
RU-486. Claude Evin, the health minister, said that RU-486 was ‘the moral
property of women’. Until now, the company has distributed RU-486 free on
request to authorised hospitals and clinics in France, but it is about to
market the drug there, so now they will have to pay for it.

Ulmann said that other governments who want RU-486 urgently should request
it from the World 91É«ÇéƬ Organization, which ran the trials of the drug
with the manufacturer. The trials showed that RU-486 provides a safe and
effective method of abortion. It could prevent some of the estimated 200
000 deaths through unskilled abortions every year.