When people hear that a drug has been “FDA approved,” they usually assume it’s completely safe. After all, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to be the world’s gold standard in drug regulation. But as someone who has spent years in clinical research and data analysis, I’ve learned that the science behind drug safety isn’t always reliable.
That’s why a recent report by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) caught my attention — and should catch yours too.
The EPPC study looked at over 865,000 cases of chemical abortion (using the abortion pill mifepristone) in the United States between 2017 and 2023. Using insurance claims data, researchers found that 1 in 10 women experienced a serious adverse event after taking this pill — haemorrhage, infection, and even sepsis. That’s hundreds of thousands of women needing emergency care after taking a drug that has been marketed as “safe and effective.”
What the FDA Isn’t Telling You
The abortion pill was approved in 2000. Since then, the official line is that serious complications happen in “less than 0.5%” of cases.
Real-world data, like the EPPC study, tell a different story. In clinical research, we call this the difference between efficacy (what works in ideal scenarios) and effectiveness (what happens in real life). Too often, real life gets left out of the conversation.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: The FDA gets nearly half of its funding from the very industry it regulates. Around 75% of the drug approval division’s budget is paid by pharmaceutical companies through “user fees.” That’s like a referee’s salary being partly paid by one of the teams in the game. Conflict of interest? It’s baked into the system.
The FDA also recalls over a thousand drugs every year. Vioxx (pain medication), Fen-Phen (anti-obesity drug), Zantac (anti-reflux) — all were once “safe and effective”, until they weren’t. On average, it takes about 3 to 4 years after approval for the FDA to withdraw a dangerous drug from the market. So, when people say: “The abortion pill is FDA approved,” I think of the many drugs that were once approved — and are now gone.
Can This Data Be Trusted?
While the EPPC’s findings must be tested and replicated independently, they raise red flags that demand attention, not dismissal.
The bigger concern is whether the scientific establishment will even allow such replication. Will insurance claims data be made available to others? Will academic journals feel free to publish similar findings that go against prevailing abortion narratives? Or will dissenting data be buried — intentionally or not?
Science, after all, is only as honest as the people doing it.
What’s Happening Here in NSW
Closer to home, New South Wales recently passed a law allowing nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe the abortion pill up to 9 weeks’ gestation. This change was promoted as improving access, especially in rural areas. This is a dangerous step toward normalising abortion as routine healthcare.
The idea that abortion pills can now be handed out by non-doctors — without medical/surgical backup or long-term follow-up — should alarm us. If 1 in 10 women in the U.S. end up with serious complications after taking the pill, what makes us think Australia will be any different?
The abortion pill doesn’t work on ectopic pregnancies and taking it can delay proper care. According to the data, over 5,000 women were diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy within 30 days of taking the abortion pill. These women were put at serious risk of internal bleeding, emergency surgery, or worse.
Science Is Not God
Here’s the bottom line: science is a gift, but it is not God. It’s a human tool, prone to human errors. The Bible reminds us: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).
When drug companies suppress data, or regulators turn a blind eye, or policymakers ignore the vulnerable — God sees it all. As Hebrews 4:13 says: “No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
So, let’s keep asking questions. And let’s never forget that real justice doesn’t begin in a laboratory or a legislature — it begins with the God who sees all and judges rightly.
– Dr Isaac Thangasamy – Surgeon and Researcher