title: Update on medication abortion.
abstract: This article provides an overview of medication abortion in the United States 6 years after the approval of mifepristone (RU486; Mifeprex; Danco Laboratories, LLC, New York, NY) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The adoption of mifepristone is considered in the context of epidemiologic data on abortion, abortion access, and the safety of abortion. The risks of medication and aspiration abortion are discussed in the context of abortion-related mortality, recent experience with obstetric and gynecologic infection with Clostridium sordellii, and the limits of scientific knowledge on the incidence of this infection in women. Innovative protocols studied since FDA approval of mifepristone are presented, and implications for clinical practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Nursing, 100 Church Street South, PO Box 9740, New Haven, CT 06536-0740, USA. margaret.beal@yale.edu
authors.forename: Margaret W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beal
mesh_terms: D000019:Abortifacient Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000451:nursing*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000209:etiology; D003283:Contraceptives, Postcoital, Synthetic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015735:Mifepristone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D012646:Self Administration; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000209:etiology; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D000019:Abortifacient Agents; D003283:Contraceptives, Postcoital, Synthetic; D015735:Mifepristone