Washington D.C., Oct 18, 2007 / 08:56 am
The approval process of the RU-486 abortion pill faced new charges of political favoritism, poor oversight, and lax production safety standards in a release from Judicial Watch on Tuesday.
Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, recently received 175 pages of new documents pertaining to the RU-486 abortion pill that had previously been withheld by the Food and Drug Administration.
According to Judicial Watch, the documents confirm that the drug was manufactured by the China-based Hua Lian Pharmaceutical Company at the time of approval. Hua Lian failed its first FDA inspection and was not in compliance with FDA standards at the time the FDA approved its manufacturing facility in August of 2000. This is the first official documentation confirming that the drug was manufactured in China.
The documents also highlight conflicts of interest in the testing of the abortion drug. One of the drug trials was conducted by Dr. Suzanne Poppema, President of the National Abortion Federation. Another trial was performed by Dr. Daniel Mishell, a senior scientist for RU-486's patent holder, the Population Council.