After nearly a year after the talks surronding this product, the abortion pill Mifegymiso will finally make its debut on the Canadian market as of January 2017. The pill has been approved by Health Canada, and will be distributed by the company Celopharma under certain restrictions.
Mifegymiso is two-drug combination that Health Canada approved in July 2015, after an application process that took more than three years, an unusually long time for a medication that is already approved in more than 60 countries, including the United States, China and most of Europe. First, the mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, which helps prepare the lining of the uterus for pregnancy. This causes the lining to break down and shed. Then it’s followed 24 to 48 hours later by misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract and expel the pregnancy.
Health Canada’s regulatory decision describes an average of 10.8 days of bleeding, including two days of heavy bleeding, and abdominal cramps that were bad enough to require pain medication in some women.
Plus, the restrictions stipulate that doctors – as opposed to pharmacists – should give the pills directly to women, and that the pills should not be used in pregnancies that are further along than seven weeks. The retail price is set at $300.
While this constitues a great victory for pro choices all around the country, these restrictions generate concerns over the accessibility of the drug for women in rural areas, as well as concerns that the physician-dispensing rule might discourage family doctors who do not specialize in women’s reproductive services from offering the pills. The high price is also another critique, as many believe that $300 does not make abortion more accessible to all.
Details surronding Mifegymiso’s availability everywhere in Canada have not yet been released but Calgary’s Kesingston Clinic is the first health facility in the country to provide the pill to its patients.
Images and information obtained from:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2371583/how-the-abortion-pill-mifegymiso-could-change-reproductive-health/