Abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories is paying $765,000 to settle allegations that it illegally withheld information about Mifeprex’s country of origin.
Released last week, the Justice Department indicated the company violated two federal laws surrounding how companies mark their products (emphasis added):
The Tariff Act of 1930 requires companies that import foreign products into the United States to mark the country of origin on those products. Importers that fail to mark their products are subject to a 10% ad valorem duty. The settlement resolves allegations that, during the period 2011 through 2019, Danco failed to mark imported pharmaceutical products with the appropriate country of origin, and thereafter violated the False Claims Act by knowingly avoiding the marking duties owed to the United States for those imports.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, who leads DOJ’s civil division, said the “settlement demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensure that importers properly pay all amounts due under our customs laws.”
Danco has agreed to pay but nonetheless denies the DOJ’s allegations, which stemmed from a complaint brought by Life Legal Defense Foundation.
The settlement provides a payment schedule for four installments ending in January of next year. Life Legal Defense is receiving $116,140.35 for its role in bringing the complaint.
Wednesday’s settlement came as the abortion pill manufacturer was forced into public scrutiny with dueling court rulings regarding federal approval of Mifeprex (mifepristone). It’s likely to gain more attention as the Supreme Court weighs in on a Texas district court’s decision to invalidate that approval.
As Live Action News’ Carole Novielli has extensively reported, Danco’s operations and origins have been notoriously secretive despite the abortion pill regimen’s overwhelming role in ending an estimated 5.6 million preborn lives in the U.S. Last year, the Guttmacher Institute reported that the abortion pill accounted for more than half (54%) of abortions in the U.S. for the latest reporting year of 2020.
It was previously thought that the manufacturing for the abortion pill (RU-486) was done by a CCP pharmaceutical company. However, ABC News reported last year that the drug was being manufactured in Europe. “Danco will only disclose that the company’s headquarters is located in New York City, while the drug itself is produced out of facilities in Europe that are inspected by U.S. federal officials,” the outlet noted.
Danco has been relatively opaque about its operations and the Food and Drug Administration has supported that lack of transparency. According to ABC News, the agency said: “The FDA concluded that there is a risk that individuals associated with the development, marketing and distribution of mifepristone for medical termination of early pregnancy may become the targets of threats of harm or violence.”
What we do know about the abortion pill and Danco points to extremely controversial backing for a company that has such a profound impact on pregnancy in the U.S. For example, it received funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which has also supported Planned Parenthood and the Population Council, which in turn has ties to the eugenics movement and purchased the rights to RU-486.
