Abortion pills prescribed via telehealth are safe and effective, study finds
A study published Thursday in Nature Medicine looks at abortion pills prescribed via telehealth and provides more support for the FDA's assessment that medication abortion is safe and effective. Researchers examined the electronic medical records for more than 6,000 patients from three providers of abortion via telehealth.
Study Methodology and Treatment Process
The study looks at 6,000 patients who got abortion pills after an online appointment. Some abortion patients talked to a provider over video, others used a secure chat platform, similar to texting. If patients were less than 10 weeks pregnant and otherwise found to be eligible, the providers prescribed two medications: mifepristone, which blocks a pregnancy hormone called progesterone, and misoprostol, which causes uterine contractions. Patients got both medicines via mail-order pharmacy.
Safety and Effectiveness Results
The researchers found that the medication was effective – it ended the pregnancy without any additional follow-up care for 97.7% of patients. It was also found to be safe – 99.7% of abortions were not followed by any serious adverse events. The safety and efficacy was similar whether the patients talked to a provider over video or through secure chat.
Based on the clinical follow-up conducted by the researchers, the following data was observed:
| Metric | Finding |
|---|---|
| Total patients examined | More than 6,000 |
| Safety (No serious adverse events) | 99.7% |
| Effectiveness (No additional follow-up care) | 97.7% |
Expert Perspectives
"These results shouldn't be surprising," explains the study's lead author, Ushma Upadhyay of the University of California – San Francisco. "It's consistent with the over 100 studies on mifepristone that have affirmed the safety and effectiveness of this medication." Rishi Desai of Harvard Medical School, a medication safety expert who was not involved in the study, says it was "well-conducted" and provides reassuring data regarding safety of the medications, noting that safety findings hold up in this setting as well.
Legal Context and the Supreme Court
In March, the Supreme Court will hear a case about mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions. A key question in that case is: Was the Food and Drug Administration correct when it deemed the drug safe to prescribe to patients in a virtual appointment? The decision could affect access to medication abortion nationwide and set a new precedent on challenges to the FDA's authority. This study affirms the FDA's position that the medicine can be safely prescribed remotely.