Health Highlights: May 29, 2020

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

U.S. Abortion Pill Rule Should be Suspended During Pandemic: Lawsuit

A U.S. government rule that requires women to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to get the abortion pill mifepristone should be suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other groups.

The lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the rule needlessly puts women’s health at risk and that they should able to fill prescriptions for the drug by mail, the Associated Press reported.

“Of the more than 20,000 drugs regulated by the FDA, mifepristone is the only one that patients must receive in person at a hospital, clinic or medical office, yet may self-administer, unsupervised, at a location of their choosing,” according to the federal lawsuit filed in Maryland.

Mifepristone is approved by the FDA to be used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, to end an early pregnancy or manage a miscarriage.

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