Medical abortions are safe: study

- Less than one percent of women getting a medication-induced abortion at Planned Parenthood had a serious side effect or a failed abortion, according to a new study. Researchers found the rate of abortion-related complications sending women to the emergency room or requiring a blood transfusion, for example, was one in 625 during 2009 and 2010. "At Planned Parenthood, medical abortion is extremely safe," said reproductive health researcher James Trussell from Princeton University in New Jersey, who worked on the study. "The most common adverse outcome is just continuing pregnancy," he added. "It doesn't work 100 percent of the time." The data came from 233,805 first-trimester abortions done using the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol at 317 Planned Parenthood health centers. In one in 200 of those cases, women had an ongoing pregnancy that wasn't terminated after two attempts with medication, the researchers reported Thursday in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Eight women each year had an ectopic pregnancy - when the embryo implants outside the uterus - that was diagnosed after the attempted abortion. One died from related complications. Of the 233,805 abortions during the study period, 385 women had a serious side effect, including 238 who sought ER treatment, 135 who were admitted to the hospital, 114 who had a blood transfusion and 57 who required intravenous antibiotics. All of those women survived. "This continues to show that medical abortion is a very, very safe option for women," said Dr. Debra Stulberg, who studies disparities in reproductive health at the University of Chicago and wasn't involved in the new study. "That's really the take-home point." She told Reuters Health medical abortions are still less common than surgical ones in the U.S., but that they're becoming relatively more frequent and "women should be reassured" based on these and other data. Surgical procedures are also known to be safe, researchers noted. One study from 2010 found that about one percent of women having a surgical abortion before their 16th week of pregnancy had a complication that could require intravenous fluid, and just one in 300 had a major complication. One limitation, the study team noted, is that not all women checked back after the abortion or had follow up medical records available - so it's possible more complications could have occurred that weren't recorded. Planned Parenthood staff members were required to make three attempts to reach any patients who didn't return for follow up visits under the organization's medical standards and guidelines. "We assume that if anything had happened, that people would get back in touch with Planned Parenthood," Trussell told Reuters Health. "The reason that people often skip their follow up is, they're fine." Two of the study's authors are Planned Parenthood employees, and Trussell is a member of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Another author receives compensation from the U.S. distributor of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories. The medication regimen used by Planned Parenthood - and many other abortion providers - is slightly different than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug course because it includes lower doses of mifepristone and at-home use of misoprostol. There have been attempts in some states to force providers to use the approved regimen, according to Trussell, even though so-called off-label use of the drugs is allowed. There's no evidence the FDA regimen is safer, he said - but it is more expensive. "It has nothing to do with medicine," he said. "It's just nuisance." Medical abortions done at Planned Parenthood run for about $300 to $800, according to its website. The researchers said their findings don't support laws restricting the drugs' use. "Mandating the FDA-approved regimen, without a scientific basis, does not protect patients from unsafe abortion; it only limits access to safe and effective medical abortion for women desiring a pregnancy termination," they concluded.

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U.S. food, animal groups seek lower ractopamine limits

Food safety and animal welfare groups petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday seeking limits on an animal feed additive that is the subject of concerns about human and animal health. Russia said earlier this month that it was requiring meat it imports to be tested and certified free of the feed additive ractopamine, a move jeopardizing the more than $500 million a year in exports of U.S. beef and pork to that country. U.S. trade authorities have taken a stand against Russia's sudden decision to require that meat imports be documented as free of ractopamine and have urged Russia to suspend such measures. Russia has denied that its action on meat imports was in response to the U.S. Senate including a measure to "name and shame" human rights violators as part of a bill expanding trade with Russia. Ractopamine is fed to animals to accelerate growth and make their meat leaner, but countries such as China have banned its use amid concerns the additive may be harmful to the animals and that traces of the drug could persist in meat products. In their petition to the FDA, the Center for Food Safety and the Animal Legal Defense Fund called for an immediate reduction in the allowable levels of ractopamine and asked FDA to study the long-term effect of human consumption and the impacts on animals associated with ractopamine. "FDA's approval for ractopamine relied primarily on safety studies conducted by the drug-maker, Elanco," the groups said in a statement. "A review of available evidence collected from FDA and the European Food Safety Authority calls FDA's approvals into question." The groups said that ractopamine is fed to an estimated 60 to 80 percent of U.S. pigs, and has resulted in more reports of sickened or dead pigs than any other livestock drug on the market. Ractopamine effects may include toxicity and other exposure risks, such as behavioral changes and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and endocrine problems, the groups said. About 160 countries ban or restrict ractopamine, including all the nations of the European Union, China, Taiwan, and Russia, the groups said. FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said the agency had extensively evaluated ractopamine before approval and "continues to monitor the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs like ractopamine" after they receive FDA approval. "Twenty-six other countries have also approved ractopamine," Burgess said. All of these countries ... have concluded that food derived from animals treated with ractopamine is safe for humans to eat.

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Enzon Pharma cuts more jobs, to stop drug development

Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc said it will suspend all clinical development activities, days after the cancer drug developer decided to explore a possible sale. The company, in which activist investor Carl Icahn has a 13.29 percent stake, spent about $4 million last quarter on pipeline research and development and had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $288.7 million as of September 30. It will also reduce its workforce from 43 employees to about 23-28, Enzon said. Last September, it laid off about half its workforce. The biotechnology company has two drugs in mid-stage trials and a number of others in early-stage studies. Enzon, whose revenue mainly comes from royalty payments, will incur about $1.4 million in charges related to the reduction in force and expects to record charges in the first quarter of 2013. Shares of Enzon, which has a market capitalization of about $200 million, closed at $4.50 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

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Federal appeals court rules against Hobby Lobby on contraception

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a claim by an arts and crafts chain that wants to be exempted from a requirement to provide emergency contraceptives to employees because it violates the religious principles of its owners. The Court of Appeals in Denver ruled against family-owned Hobby Lobby's assertion that the religious beliefs of its owners should relieve them from providing the "morning after" and "week after" pills to their employees, as required under President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms. Hobby Lobby vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The Green family is disappointed with this ruling," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is assisting Hobby Lobby in the legal case. "The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith." The medications at issue are classified as emergency contraceptives by the Food and Drug Administration, but the owners of Hobby Lobby call them "abortion-inducing drugs" because they are often taken after conception. The lawsuit is among 42 legal actions that have been filed over the issue, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm in Washington, D.C. The company faces fines of up to $1.3 million daily if it disobeys the mandate, which takes effect on January 1 for Hobby Lobby, a $3 billion chain, and its smaller sister operation, Mardel, a Christian-oriented bookstore and educational supply company. Both companies are owned by the Green family of Oklahoma City, whose patriarch, David Green, is ranked 79th on Forbes Magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth of $4.5 billion. The family operates 514 Hobby Lobby stores in 41 states and employ 13,240 people. Inspirational Christian music is played in the stores, which are closed on Sundays. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton of the Western District of Oklahoma ruled on November 19 that the privately-owned companies are secular, for-profit enterprises that do not possess the same religious rights as the individual members of the family.

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China probes Yum Brands' KFC over safety of chicken products

Yum Brands Inc's fast-food chain KFC was supplied with chicken in China that contained excessive amounts of antibiotics, said food safety authorities investigating allegations of tainted KFC products. The finding by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) deals a blow to KFC's reputation in China, where it is facing fierce competition from the likes of Taiwanese-owned fried chicken chain Dico and Japanese-style noodle chain Ajisen (China) Holdings Ltd. Yum Brands has forecast a drop in same store China sales in the fourth quarter. Eight of the 19 batches of chicken samples Yum Brands sent to a testing laboratory in 2010 and 2011 contained overly high levels of antibiotics, the SFDA said in a statement on its Website late on Thursday. An investigation is underway to determine whether Yum Brands had taken corrective measures at that time, and the Louisville, Kentucky-based company may face harsh penalties if the probe showed laws had been violated, the SFDA said. Shares in Yum Brands have slumped 4 percent since December 18 when China's state television CCTV reported that some poultry suppliers in eastern Shandong province had fed chickens with anti-viral drugs and hormones to accelerate their growth. The SFDA is looking into the CCTV report and has not released its findings yet, but authorities in Shandong have already shut two chicken farms in eastern China, including one that supplied KFC and McDonald's Corp, the official Shanghai Daily newspaper reported on Thursday. Officials at Yum Brands in China could not be immediately reached for comment. KFC's subsidiary in China has pledged to cooperate with the authorities, while McDonald's wrote on its official microblog that its chicken and raw materials pass through independent, third-party laboratory tests. Shares in Yum Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, closed 1 percent lower at $69.49 in New York on Thursday. China has been trying to stamp out health violations that have dogged the country's food sector amid reports of fake cooking oil, tainted milk and even exploding watermelons. In 2008, milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000.

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Reports: Rolling Stones guitarist Wood ties knot

Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel. The Sun and the Daily Mirror carried photographs of the 65-year-old rocker with a pale boutonniere and a dark blue suit, and his 34-year-old bride in a traditional white gown and a clutch of matching white flowers. The Sun quoted Wood as saying "I'm feeling great" as he and his bride kissed and posed for pictures outside the exclusive hotel in London's upscale Mayfair district. The newspapers said the guests included singer Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster as well as ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell. A call and an email to Wood's U.S.-based agent weren't immediately returned Saturday.

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Buju Banton awaits ruling in mistrial request

A Florida juror who voted to convict Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton on drug charges has denied improperly researching the case during trial, in spite of a weekly newspaper's report that quoted her as saying that she did. Banton is serving a 10-year prison sentence on two drug charges. The Grammy winner faces an additional five years on a related gun possession charge, but his resentencing hearing was postponed to investigate the report of juror misconduct. Banton's attorneys have filed a motion in Tampa federal court seeking a new trial. If granted, it would be the second mistrial for Banton, whose first trial in 2010 ended with jurors deadlocked. He was convicted in 2011 in his second trial. U.S. District Judge James Moody reserved decision Thursday on the defense motion. Jurors were told during trial not to do any independent research into the case. Terri Wright, a juror from Banton's 2011 trial, was quoted in a Miami New Times report as saying that she researched parts of the case, in spite of the judge's orders not to. "I would get in the car, just write my notes down so I could remember, and I would come home and do the research," Wright was quoted as saying. New Times reporter Chris Sweeney testified Thursday that he interviewed several jurors. The Tampa Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/RLgxXO) that Sweeney provided the court with a recording of his interview with Wright. Wright testified that she sent Sweeney a text message after seeing his story, saying there had been "a huge misunderstanding with (Sweeney's) questions." Wright's text message also read, "I did not violate the judge's instructions with this case. I did my research AFTER the case was over and the verdict was given, NOT during the case. . I trusted you and now feel totally betrayed." Wright testified that she only researched Banton's music and the federal Pinkerton rule, which involves liability among conspirators for the actions of other conspirators. There was no proof that Banton possessed a gun or was aware that a co-defendant did, but because of the Pinkerton rule, Banton was convicted of a weapons offense. Moody tossed the gun charge, but an appeals court reversed that decision. Moody called a sampling of three other jurors to ask if they remembered hearing other jury members talk about doing outside research. Two testified that had not heard anything, but one said she recalled a white woman juror saying she had researched the Pinkerton law. Wright is black. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston said Banton's defense had not met the legal requirement for a mistrial by showing that the jury was exposed to outside evidence that posed a reasonable possibility of prejudice to the defendant. Defense lawyer Chokwe Lumumba said jurors were ready to acquit Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, before Wright shared her research.

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