But where is all the outrage against Viagra?
You’re going to start hearing a lot about the evils of RU-486, which has now been tenuously linked to the deaths of seven woman since the treatment was introduced in 2000. The fatalities appear to be from Clostridium sordellii, a rarely-fatal, blood-poisoning bacterium. The relationship between the drug and the bacterium is unclear, but the Christian right is making a predictable play against the drug’s safety, demanding the drug be pulled from the market or banned from use.
To put things in context, we know of 560,000 RU-486 abortions, and there appear to have been seven deaths — that’s 1.25 deaths per 100,000, which you can compare and contrast with childbirth, at 17 deaths per 100,000. As for the pharmaceutical comparison, that’s about par for the course. Everyday drugs kill around 90,000 Americans a year, though they save exponentially more. To see how some of the name brand medication you routinely use stack-up, check this page. Meanwhile — don’t listen to the hype. RU-486 is no more dangerous than anything else, and, in fact, significantly safer than actual childbirth, surgical abortions, and a slew of widely-used drugs.
Thank you, Ezra, for putting it succinctly.
Even more succint:
http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/2006/03/sauce_for_the_g.html
:)
Live birth is responsible for 60% of deaths related to pregnancy, far worse than the 4% for abortion. Not to mention the over 7000 deaths per year from aspirin and other NSAIDS.
And think of all the dead baby sperm from excess ejaculation.
For the record:
If you do the math, that’s 1 death resulting from taking RU-486 for every 327 deaths from taking Viagra. And I’m rounding down, thank you.
Just thought that ought to be said.
dying for a boner… what a world, what a world…