Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

What Is RU 486 and How Does It Work?dexamethasone was administered for two days (Laue et al.,1990:1477). Another research team, Nieman et al. (1985)expressed concern about glucocorticoid insufficiency,suggesting that due to measurement difficulties, RU 486should be given ‘in concert with careful evaluation for signsand symptoms of adrenal insufficiency’ (p. 539). Fatigue,abdominal pain, nausea, dizzy spells or fainting, togetherwith increased susceptibility to infection or physical stress,have been observed following prolonged steroid therapy.Alarmingly, these are some of the symptoms mentioned bywomen after they have taken RU 486. Régine Sitruk-Ware etal., in their small study of ten women given RU 486, questionedwhether ‘the asthenia [loss of energy] and weakness noted inall subjects represent subjective evidence of glucocorticoiddeficiency’ (1985:247). Similarly, Healy and Hodgen ask if‘such an antiglucocorticoid effect may complicate anaesthesiaand recovery’ in the woman who ‘needs curettage after anRU 486-induced abortion’ (1985:137). In other words, thehealth of the five to six per cent of women for whom RU 486/PG abortion fails may be further jeopardized during theirsecond (conventional) abortion.Baulieu maintains that no adverse effects result fromblocking cortisol action at the hypothalamus-pituitary level.He further remarks that should any sign of cortisolinsufficiency ‘unfortunately’ appear, it could easily bereversed by glucocorticosteroid administration (1985:19).We contend this is another familiar example of bad medicalpractice where one drug’s adverse effects are countered withthe prescription of yet another. Baulieu suggests that ‘the useof RU 486 in a provocative test for the exploration of thebrain-pituitary-adrenal system may be of great interest toanalyze some aspects of the neuroendocrine functioning…’(idem.). Provocative and of great interest for whom we mightask? Who gains laurels 12 and who pays the price?The antiglucocorticosteroid property of RU 486 has ledto the claim that it might be used in the treatment of69