Page 26 - bon-dia-aruba-20200530

A26 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 30 May 2020
Ruling means Missouri’s last abortion clinic stays open

By JIM SALTER and as a tool to end abortions
SUMMER BALLENTINE in Missouri, a conservative
Associated Press state with a decidedly anti-
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Mis- abortion governor in Re-
souri's only abortion clinic publican Mike Parson.
will be able to keep oper- Planned Parenthood's chal-
ating after a state govern- lenge led to an administra-
ment administrator decid- tive hearing in October.
ed Friday that the health The wrangling over the li-
department was wrong cense began after an in-
not to renew the license of vestigator in March 2019
the Planned Parenthood found that a woman had
facility in St. Louis. Missouri undergone an abortion
Administrative Hearing that took five attempts to
Commissioner Sreenivasa complete. William Koebel,
Rao Dandamudi's decision director of the section of
means Missouri will not be- the health department re-
come the first state without sponsible for abortion clinic
a functioning abortion clin- licensing, testified that the
ic since 1974, the year after clinic failed to provide a
the Supreme Court's Roe "complication report."
v. Wade decision. "In over That led the health de-
4,000 abortions provided partment to launch an
since 2018, the Department In this Tuesday, June 4, 2019 file photo, a Planned Parenthood clinic is seen in St. Louis. investigation of other in-
has only identified two Associated Press stances where women
causes to deny its license," ask a court to overturn the Services of Planned Parent- driguez said. underwent multiple pro-
Dandamudi wrote, adding decision. A spokesman for hood of the St. Louis Region, The state refused to renew cedures to complete an
that Planned Parenthood the attorney general's of- said in a statement that the license for Planned Par- abortion, Koebel said. As
has "substantially com- fice, which is defending the ruling "is vindication for enthood's St. Louis clinic in part of that investigation,
plied" with state law. the health department's Planned Parenthood and June 2019, after an inves- the state obtained the
"Therefore, Planned Parent- decision in court, said the our patients who rely on us." tigation turned up four in- medical records of wom-
hood is entitled to renewal office was "reviewing the But she said Missouri's abor- stances of what the state en who had abortions at
of its abortion facility li- ruling and deciding on next tion laws continue to make called "failed abortions." the clinic. They found four
cense," Dandamudi wrote. steps." An email message it difficult for women seek- Planned Parenthood of- who required multiple pro-
A Planned Parenthood seeking comment from ing abortions. ficials contend the state cedures, including one in
spokeswoman said the de- the Missouri Department "An abortion license, while "cherry-picked" a hand- which the physician appar-
cision will mean the St. Louis of Health and Senior Ser- critical to our ability to pro- ful of difficult cases out of ently missed that a woman
clinic's license is renewed vices was not immediately vide care, still cannot undo thousands of otherwise was pregnant with twins.
through May 2021. returned. Yamelsie Rodri- the harm that medically successful abortions. They The woman underwent
It wasn't immediately clear guez, president and CEO unnecessary policies in our have accused the state of two procedures five weeks
whether the state would of Reproductive Health state inflict on patients," Ro- using the licensing process apart.q

FDA finds contamination in several brands of diabetes drug

ter and prescription medications. of an abundance of caution."
Metformin tablets are a staple of The company said it stopped sell-
diabetes care, reducing excess ing the drug in the U.S. in February
sugar in the blood. People with 2019 and that little remains on the
Type 2 diabetes use metformin market. The FDA announcement
alone or with other drugs to help did not name the four other drug-
control their blood sugar levels. makers who have been request-
More than 34 million people in the ed to recall their products.
U.S. have this disease. The agency noted that no con-
Patients should continue taking tamination problems have been
metformin drugs until their doctor found in immediate-release met-
can prescribe a replacement, the formin. The FDA is responsible for
FDA said in a statement, noting ensuring that medicines for the
the risks of discontinuing. Regula- U.S. market are made in safe,
This image made available by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on tors are still assessing whether the sanitary conditions that meet
Thursday, May 28, 2020 shows a label for the drug metformin.
Associated Press recalls will lead to shortages of federal quality standards. But
metformin, but noted that a num- government inspectors have re-
By MATTHEW PERRONE tion said late Thursday that sev- ber of other companies make peatedly criticized the agency
AP Health Writer eral batches of the drug met- generic versions of the drugs that for falling short in reviewing over-
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health formin tested positive for unsafe don't appear to be affected by seas manufacturing plants as the
regulators are telling five drug- levels of a chemical called N-Ni- the issue. Drugmaker Apotex pharmaceutical supply chain has
makers to recall their versions of trosodimethylamine. The agency Corp. recalled its extended-re- increasingly spread to Asia.
a widely used diabetes medica- has stepped up testing after the lease metformin distributed in the In March, the FDA suspended
tion after laboratory tests found chemical was found in dozens of U.S. earlier this week after the FDA nearly all U.S. and foreign inspec-
elevated levels of a contaminant shipments of heartburn drugs last found contamination in one lot. tions due to safety concerns and
linked to cancer. year, triggering recalls of Zantac Apotex said in a statement it re- travel restrictions caused by the
The Food and Drug Administra- and other popular over-the-coun- called all supplies of the drug "out coronavirus outbreak.q