US bid to limit who can prescribe mifepristone

Two US Republican Congressmen are proposing legislation which would setlimits on the physicians who would be able to prescribe the controversial abortion drug mifepristone.

The legislation, offered by Senator Tim Hutchinson and Representative David Vitter, says prescribing physicians should not only be legally authorized to perform abortions but also qualified to deal with complications arising from incomplete abortions. They must also have admitting privileges at a hospital nearby, reports the Associated Press.

The Food and Drug Administration finally approved the drug, trade-named Mifeprex, ilaat fall (Marketletter October 9, 2000), after years of political wrangling, and private company Danco Laboratories began shipping it to physicians on November 20.