TUESDAY, April 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A requirement that mifepristone abortion pills be dispensed only in person by a medical provider will be put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.
The decision means that health care providers in some states will be able to prescribe mifepristone via telemedicine and mail the pills to patients, CBS News reported.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has said the in-person requirement is medically unnecessary and puts patients and medical staff at risk during the pandemic.
In a letter to ACOG, acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., cited four medical publications and wrote, “these studies do not appear to show increases in serious safety concerns…occurring with medical abortion as a result of modifying the in-person dispensing requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic,” CBS News reported.
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