Mifepristone: The abortion pill

One of my lecturers says I am always scaring people about medicine in this column. Just last week I heard of a girl who was admitted in hospital because of an abortion gone bad. She and the boyfriend had acquired the “best” abortive agent as advised by friends to solve their “minor” problem. Whether the girl will survive is in God’s hands.
Drugs are mostly good when taken for the right reasons as advised by one’s doctor or pharmacist or under medical supervision. But drugs can also kill, cause organ damage or at the very least cause adverse effects that may be reversed with stoppage of the medicine or getting antidotes.
Getting informed about something and one’s choices opens one’s mind up and this is what we are going to do with mifepristone, an anti-progestogenic steroid.

Progesterone is the hormone that maintains pregnancy. Mifepristone sensitises the uterine muscle to contractions brought on by substances called prostaglandins. The drug often comes as 200mg whose dosage is best determined by one’s doctor. Misoprostol on the other hand is a prostaglandin. Mifepristone also ripens the cervix. The synergism that exists between these two agents requires that they are used with a lot of caution and under strict medical supervision and advice.
It is advised that asthmatics, especially those with the severe and uncontrolled kind, those with bleeding disorders and those on drugs used in the management of blood clots called anticoagulant therapy, those with a history of heart disease should take this drug with a lot of caution and hence the need for medical supervision.

It should not be given to women with ectopic pregnancies (the foetus implants in the fallopian tube as opposed to the uterine wall), those with liver disease, kidney disease and breast feeding mothers.
Mifepristone is said to be associated with adverse effects like cramps of the digestive system, uterine contractions, and vaginal bleeding which could sometimes be severe. Headaches, fever, hot flashes, dizziness, chills, infections, and hypersensitivity reactions like rashes may also sometimes happen when one takes the drug above.

The writer is a pharmacist