Abortion Pills via Telehealth and Mail are Safe and Effective, New Study Finds
Abortion pills that patients got via telehealth and the mail are safe, 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. They also conducted an opt-in survey of 1,600 patients.
Study Methodology and Process
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. Then 3 to 7 days later, there was a clinical follow up where the provider checked in with the patient.
Clinical Findings on Safety and Efficacy
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.
Clinical Data Summary:
- Effectiveness: 97.7% (Pregnancy ended without additional follow-up care)
- Safety: 99.7% (No serious adverse events reported)
- Sample Size: Over 6,000 electronic medical records and 1,600 survey participants
Expert Perspectives
"These results shouldn't be surprising," says study 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." The results also echo international research on telehealth abortion and studies of medication abortion dispensed in a clinic with an in-person appointment.
Rishi Desai of Harvard Medical School, a medication safety expert who was not involved in the study, says the study was "well-conducted" and "provides reassuring data regarding safety of the medications." He notes that it is good to see 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. 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? Although an anti-abortion rights group sued FDA in 2022 arguing mifepristone is not safe, this study affirms the FDA's position that the medicine can be safely prescribed remotely. The decision could affect access to medication abortion nationwide and set a new precedent on challenges to the FDA's authority.