OTTAWA -- Health Canada says more than 4,000 prescriptions for abortion pill Mifegymiso were dispensed in 2017.
Canadian pharmacies doled out 4,253 doses of the drug, which was first marketed in January of that year.
The information comes from a response to an order paper question posed by Conservative MP Arnold Viersen earlier this year.
The federal health agency says it received a single report of a harmful reaction to the pill so far, which involved heavy bleeding -- a side effect Health Canada says is clearly listed in product information intended for health care professionals.
The agency has not done any studies on the drug's side effects in the last two years, but says a plan for a safety study is currently under review.
Restrictions on the pill were lifted last November, allowing the drug to be prescribed up to nine weeks into a pregnancy instead of the previous limit of seven weeks.
