Overview

• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary told 22 Republican attorneys general that the FDA is reviewing evidence on mifepristone’s safety, efficacy, and dispensing conditions.
• The letter references an Ethics and Public Policy Center report claiming an 11% serious adverse event rate, a figure not peer reviewed and criticized by medical experts for methodological flaws.
• FDA data cited in CNN’s analysis show about five deaths per 1 million users since 2000, with major complications documented in research at roughly one‑third of one percent, lower than rates for procedural abortion or childbirth.
• Studies referenced in the coverage indicate mifepristone’s risk profile compares favorably with common drugs such as penicillin and Viagra, reinforcing decades of findings that the medication is highly safe.
• Abortion-rights groups condemned the review as political and warned it could curb mail-order and telehealth access, though no regulatory changes have been announced following the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision allowing mailed pills.