FDA to expand availability of abortion pills

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule change will allow U.S. retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills directly to patients with a prescription, suspending a long-standing requirement that the pills be dispensed in person by doctors or clinics. 

GenBioPro and Danco Laboratories, which make the generic abortion pill mifepristone, have said the FDA informed them about the change to its risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for the drug, and the FDA is expected to update its website late Tuesday. 

Pharmacies that are certified in the FDA’s REMS can dispense mifepristone directly to patients, and the in-person requirement, which was lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, will now be permanently revoked, Danco Laboratories announced in a release.