US Supreme Court pauses restrictions on abortion pill
The US Supreme Court will allow a drug used in more than half of the country’s abortions to remain available while a legal fight over its decades-long regulatory approval plays out in lower courts.
The court on Friday halted a ruling by Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who earlier this month suspended the authorisation of mifepristone while the appeals process runs its course.
The pharmaceutical industry has said the restrictions proposed by the Texas ruling ignore decades of scientific evidence and legal precedent and, if implemented, would cause regulatory chaos and put the industry at risk.
Danco, one of the main manufacturers of abortion pills containing mifepristone, said the restrictions would possibly force it to stop selling the drug and halt operations. GenBioPro, the maker of a generic version of abortion pills containing mifepristone, this week filed a lawsuit seeking to allow it to continue to sell its pill amid the continuing legal battles.
Amanda Banks, an adviser at Harbinger Health, was one of more than 700 pharmaceutical executives who signed an open letter condemning the Texas ruling, said the industry would continue to advocate for the FDA’s authority to regulate new medicines and patients’ ability to access these medications.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Jamie Smyth
