Supreme Court’s Decision in Mifepristone Case Protects Women and Science, For Now

San Francisco, CA – Last week, the United States Supreme Court granted a stay of execution, requested by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Danco Laboratories, in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al. This stay allows mifepristone – one of two drugs used in medication abortion – to retain its current FDA approval as the case proceeds through the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

While the threat to unravel women’s rights and the scientific foundation of our drug and device approval process is far from over, it is reassuring to see our nation’s highest court act to protect both. As a result of this stay, mifepristone will remain accessible while the Fifth Circuit hears the DOJ and Danco Laboratories’ appeal.

Statement from Medicines360 CEO Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH:

“As a physician, let me be clear: for 20 years, mifepristone has been shown to be safe and effective. Alongside contraception, it is part of the full suite of reproductive healthcare that women in this country must have equitable access to – ensuring that they have control over their lives and their futures. An essential part of our nonprofit mission is to address critical gaps for women who are disadvantaged and discriminated against in the healthcare system – the women that this case could disproportionately harm. While we are relieved by the Supreme Court’s decision, we will continue to stand with women as this case continues to work its way through our court system.”

The April 7 decision from Federal District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, from which this urgent appeals process sprang, ignored decades of scientific research and legal precedent. If allowed to stand, it will diminish the FDA’s authority over drug and device approvals, endangering innovation and ultimately people’s health across the country. Medicines360 was proud to join other leaders in the pharmaceutical industry in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court as well as publishing an open-letter on this case.


Press Contact: Stacey Manley
Vice President, Communications & Marketing
smanley@Medicines360.org   415.951.8700

About Medicines360

Located in San Francisco, California, Medicines360 is a global nonprofit pharmaceutical organization with a mission to accelerate the timeline from health innovation to access for all women. Medicines360 is committed to working with healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help women around the world have greater access to the medicines they need. For more information, visit www.medicines360.org.

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Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG

Chief Executive Officer

Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, is CEO of Medicines360. Previously, she served as a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the research director of the Women’s Health Research Institute. She is a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist who received her medical training at the University of California, San Diego, and post-graduate residency training and MPH at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she also completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship. She was also senior staff physician at Kaiser Permanente and has a special interest in family planning and adolescent reproductive health.

As the director of the Women’s Health Research Institute, Dr. Raine-Bennett focused on expanding research on women’s health within the Division and translating women’s health research into clinical practice and policy within the Ob/Gyn departments in Northern California. She also promoted the involvement of clinicians in research designed to improve the health outcomes and healthcare experiences of women at Kaiser Permanente and women in general.

Prior to Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Raine-Bennett was a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She was based at San Francisco General Hospital where she was also the medical director of the New Generation Health Center, a UCSF affiliate site that provides community-based reproductive health services. Dr. Raine-Bennett’s research has focused on contraceptive methods and on elucidating factors that influence contraceptive choice and continuation, and she was principal investigator on NIH grants to assess hormonal contraceptive use predictors and develop interventions to improve contraceptive access.

Her past and current research on emergency contraception has focused on the safety of making emergency contraception more accessible and she conducted a pivotal clinical trial to make emergency contraception available to teens without a prescription. She served on the editorial board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. She was the Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Society of Family Planning and Society of Family Planning Research Fund. She has also served as an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and on national committees for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the National Medical Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.