Item fast-tracked by Bill Clinton kills at least 22

At least 22 women have been killed, and hundreds more have ended up with ectopic pregnancies or have required blood transfusions and hospitalization due to an abortion pill fast-tracked by the Bill Clinton administration.

The results of the Clinton administration's promotion of Mifeprex, also known as RU-486, were uncovered by Washington watchdog Judicial Watch, which had warned of possible negative impacts from the drug.

"Back in 2006 Judicial Watch published a special report based on thousands of pages of FDA and National Archives documents showing the Clinton administration's aggressive drive to thrust the abortion pill to the market in the United States despite warnings of its hazards," the organization said this Tuesday.

"Judicial Watch uncovered that the abortion pill was fast-tracked under the 'Accelerated Approval of New Drugs for Serious or Life-threatening Illnesses,' a measure that was adopted for use in rare cases to encourage the manufacture and importation of drugs designed to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer or heart disease.

"Over the years physicians have warned of Mifeprex's dangers and some have called for banning it. In a piece published by a mainstream newspaper more than a decade ago, an obstetrician warns that Mifeprex is deadly and explains that it obtained government approval because five standard procedural and scientific requirements to prove safety and effectiveness were circumvented to get it onto the market quickly."

Judicial Watch said a recent Food and Drug Administration summary of reports connected to the drug "shows that between 2000, when the agency approved Mifeprex, and 2017, the drug killed 22 women."

"Ninety-seven others had ectopic pregnancies, which can cause life-threatening bleeding, and 4,185 reported adverse effects from using the drug."

Judicial Watch said more than 1,000 women were hospitalized after taking the abortion pill, 598 required blood transfusions and 411 suffered infections, some requiring hospitalization for two to three days.

The organization said it has investigated the government's handling of Mifeprex since the Clinton administration pressed for approval of the drug, apparently to "appease radical pro-abortion activists."

Two years ago when abortion promoters sought to obtain quicker access to the drug, they charged that the abortion pill has been "increasingly used as its efficacy and safety have become well-established by both research and experience, and serious complications have proven to be extremely rare."

But Judicial Watch said the records it obtained "tell a different story."

The organization expects in coming weeks to obtain thousands of pages of individual "Adverse Event Reports" from the FDA about the drug, and doctors from a coalition of organizations will study and evaluate the reports.

"But the initial summary figures provided by the agency this month under the Freedom of Information Act are disturbing enough," Judicial Watch said.

Even the data may not tell the whole story, the organization said.

"The government only includes cases that have been 'reported,' acknowledging that some adverse effects or even deaths may not be disclosed to the government. In fact, a congressional audit published earlier this year on the FDA's monitoring of Mifeprex acknowledges that 'adverse events may be underreported and that the FDA may only be aware of a fraction of them," Judicial Watch said.