Fed: Abortion pill must be made available: MJA

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2007
Fed: Abortion pill must be made available: MJA

By Tamara McLean, Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Aug 5 AAP - Doctors have called for the controversial abortion drug RU486 to
be made nationally available so that Australian women are not disadvantaged.

A group of medical specialists has hit out at the lack of mainstream availability of
the drug, claiming Australia is "years behind" other nations.

RU486 was approved for use more than a year ago in Australia but no drug company has
yet offered to market it.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has only approved one application by an
individual doctor - Cairns-based Professor Caroline de Costa - to supply the drug, known
generically as mifepristone.

Reporting on her progress today, Prof de Costa, who spearheaded the campaign that won
initial approval for the pill, said she was frustrated that it was still widely unavailable.

Non-surgical abortions were available in Australia but were carried out with "off-licence"

use of the cancer drug methotrexate, she said.

RU486 is available in most western nations, however political debate surrounding the
drug in Australia had discouraged pharmaceutical company interest in it locally, she said.

In the meantime, four doctors wanting to prescribe it have been unable to win immediate
authorisation from the TGA, she said.

"To date, through personal communication, we are aware of four applications from other
practitioners having been returned by the TGA with the request for further information,"

Prof de Costa said.

The hold-up was frustrating given that her own application was approved on the grounds
that the drug was "sufficiently safe and effective to be available for at least some Australian
women", she said.

Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, Prof de Costa and her colleagues urged
the problem be resolved.

"There is an urgent need for a more proactive approach from individual doctors, professional
bodies, and health departments, at both state and federal levels, to make mifepristone
widely used and accessible to every Australian woman faced with making the difficult decision
about abortion for herself," they wrote.

AAP tam/sjk/cdh

KEYWORD: ABORTION

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