First, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a rarely used import alert. Quantities of the unapproved French drug destined for personal use can be seized at the border. Usually, an alert is enacted when surreptitious importation already is occurring, with the subsequent development of a black market. In congressional hearings last November, however, the FDA was forced to admit that it had no proof either was happening--or even likely to happen. The Bush administration also issued a sharp warning to the World Health Organization, demanding that WHO account for any use of U.S. funds on RU 486. WHO replied that no U.S. dollars were being used on RU 486 projects and seemed nonplused at the administration's suggestion.
In public, the FDA says it supports continuation of research relationships between the French manufacturer of RU 486--Roussel Uclaf--and the U.S. scientific community. But the fact is that, since the alert was ...
