Editor's note. I am on vacation. The remainder of the TN&Vs for this week were composed ahead of time. I will be back in the swing of things July 28.

There has been yet another death of an RU486 patient, this time a British teen. Manon Jones, 18, bled to death on June 27, 2005, awaiting a transfusion in a Bristol emergency room while doctors were tending to other crises, a London newspaper reported (Daily Mail, 6/13/08). This brings to 12 the number of known or suspected deaths associated with the abortifacient RU486. (See Trust Fund factsheet "Deaths Associated with RU486" at www.nrlc.org.)

Two important observations can be gleaned from this latest tragedy.

First, it is further confirmation that neither patients nor doctors understand just how dangerous RU486 is. Jones received the first dose of mifepristone (RU486) on June 10, 2005, and then returned to take the second dose, probably of a prostaglandin two days later. RU486 essentially starves the child to death while the prostaglandin stimulates powerful uterine contractions to expel the tiny corpse.

After the child was thought to have been aborted, Jones complained of dizziness and heavy bleeding and went to the hospital. They did a scan and said it was normal.

Jones left for a vacation on June 19, according to the Daily Mail, but returned early, on June 23, not feeling well, and checked herself into the hospital in Bristol. Her bleeding appeared minimal, and an initial blood test and exam did not reveal hypovolemia, which is a fall in the volume of blood plasma that can prove fatal. A later postmortem revealed it was this condition that killed Jones, along with shock caused by "retained products of conception."

After a second blood test, however, the attending physician ordered a transfusion, according to the Daily Mail. Although the blood was not immediately available, the doctor thought Jones was stable enough to wait for it to arrive.

Things in the ER got "extremely busy," the Daily Mail reported, and Jones ended up waiting more than four hours for the transfusion. When her mother got to the hospital, Jones was already in intensive care, having experienced seizures and cardiac arrest. She died four days later.

The problem with chemically induced RU486 abortions is that heavy bleeding, cramping, gastrointestinal distress, dizziness, and the like are standard parts of the abortion experience. As seen here, once again, doctors, as well as patients, easily fail to recognize the signs of hemorrhage, serious infection, or a ruptured ectopic pregnancy because the symptoms are so similar to typical chemical abortion side effects. A crisis isn't recognized until it is too late.

Second, that there remains a major information gap between event and reporting. Manon Jones died in June 2005, but news of her death was not published until June 2008, three years later.

In the past, in Britain and in the U.S., information on deaths and injuries associated with RU486 have only surfaced after official inquiries have been made of relevant government agencies. In this case, a coroner held an inquest June 12, according to the Daily Mail. Although he said that Manon Jones's death was "the saddest case I have had to deal with in 40 years," Avon deputy coroner Brian Whitehouse absolved the National Health Service (NHS) from responsibility for her death. Whitehouse added that junior staff should have asked "more experienced" doctors for help, but "In spite of these concerns, I find in these particular circumstances there was no failure on the part of the NHS to provide basic medical care."

This delay in public notification makes one wonder whether there have been fewer incidents since the last death was reported in the U.S. in 2006 or whether news of additional deaths and injuries have just not yet been reported.

If you have any thoughts on this, please drop me a line at daveandrusko@hotmail.com