Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined a lawsuit Thursday to challenge current restrictions on a drug widely used in medication abortions as the U.S. awaits a federal court decision that could pull it from the market.
Brown filed to join a lawsuit levied by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenbaum against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its restrictions prescribing the medical abortion drug, mifepristone (pronounced meh FE’ pri-stone). It’s part of a two-drug regimen used in 98% of medical abortions in the country.
Mifepristone received approval in 2000 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency categorizes it with drugs under a set of restrictions called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies, a designation also given to addictive or dangerous drugs like opioids.
According to a February news release from Ferguson’s office, the FDA requires patients to agree to receive the medication and providers and pharmacies to be certified to prescribe and dispense it.
The attorneys general allege the classification is “unduly burdensome, harmful and unnecessary” and exposes patients and providers to “unnecessary privacy and safety risks.”
Brown, one of 18 attorneys general who are plaintiffs, said in a statement earlier this week that he wants to protect the prescribing and dispensing of mifepristone.
###