CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Abortion Pill Test Funds Unavailable

The state’s top health official responded to a request that his department allow testing of the abortion pill RU 486 in California by saying the state Legislature has appropriated funding only for testing and approval of experimental AIDS drugs. Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer wrote Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp that “that particular fund is not available to be used in evaluating RU 486.” Van de Kamp, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, called on the Department of Health Services last week to allow testing of the controversial pill by researchers or drug firms interested in distributing the drug inside the state. The department has had the power since 1939 to approve drugs and medical devices for use exclusively in California. In 1987, the Legislature passed a bill appropriating money to cover the cost of the department overseeing testing of experimental AIDS drugs.