Hawley urges DOJ probe into abortion pill maker over safety concerns

FIRST ON FOX— Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Danco Laboratories, which produces and distributes the abortion drug mifepristone.

"Women are being harmed by this chemical abortion drug at far higher rates than advertised on the drug label," Hawley said in a letter sent to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Tuesday that was obtained by Fox News Digital. "As you may know, this drug is now responsible for over 70 percent of abortions in the United States—a number which has risen in just the last four years. Large, secretive pharmaceutical corporations like Danco must be held accountable for these serious safety risks to women and the Department should take immediate action." 

Mifepristone, an abortion pill originally made by Danco Laboratories, blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to sustain pregnancy, and is followed by misoprostol to complete the abortion. 

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"Very little information is publicly available about Danco Laboratories," Hawley wrote in his letter. "The company first introduced mifepristone in the United States in 2000 and, in doing so, appears to have taken unusual and extreme measures to protect itself from liability. It was incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Its board of directors and investors remain secret."

In a 2023 article headlined "Why you’ve never heard of the company behind the abortion pill," the Los Angeles Times reported, "As far as drug companies go, abortion pill maker Danco Laboratories is all but anonymous. It has fewer than 20 employees, uses a P.O. Box to avoid sharing its headquarters address and isn’t listed on any public exchanges."

Hawley wrote that Danco Laboratories' corporate structure "remains largely shielded from public view. Early backers appear to have included George Soros and other far-left activists who favor population control. We do know, however, that chemical abortion is a lucrative enterprise for Danco—so lucrative, in fact, that mifepristone is the only drug the company makes, with investors’ returns reportedly topping 450%." 

In his letter, Hawley referenced a study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, authored by Ryan T. Anderson, the organization’s president, and Jamie Bryan Hall, its director of data analysis, which reviewed a claims database that included 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023.

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It found that 10.93% of women "experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion." 

On its website, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls mifepristone safe but adds, "The FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in patients who took mifepristone. As of December 31, 2024, there were 36 reports of deaths in patients associated with mifepristone since the product was approved in September 2000, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy located outside the womb, such as in the fallopian tubes) resulting in death, and several fatal cases of severe systemic infection (also called sepsis)." 

"You and the Department of Justice are tasked with upholding the rule of law and protecting every American—including women that companies like Danco prey on and lie to," Hawley wrote to Blanche.

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"This mandate includes ensuring Danco’s prompt, fulsome, and transparent compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and ongoing regulatory obligations," he added. "My Subcommittee has opened an investigation into Danco and its business practices. I request that you also open an investigation into Danco, including but not limited to its original FDA approval, ongoing regulatory compliance, manufacture and distribution pipeline, potentially deceptive marketing practices, and disclosure of safety risks pertaining to the drug." 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and Danco Laboratories for comment.