HEALTH : Swedes to Test Controversial Pill
A Swedish hospital said today that it will become the first in the world to begin testing a controversial French abortion pill as a contraceptive.
A spokesman for Stockholm’s Karolinska Hospital said the pill, called Mifepristone or RU-486, will be tested on 30 women for six months to establish whether a single monthly dose could prevent pregnancy.
The drug, made by Rousell Uclaf Co., is available in France and China, where it is used for non-surgical abortions. An anti-abortion campaign in the United States has discouraged firms there from testing the drug.
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