U.S. nixes FDA decision allowing over-the-counter morning-after pills

slimvictor

slimvictor

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Morning-after pills were set to hit drug store shelves this month as the FDA was preparing to lift an age limit on the Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive, allowing it to be purchased over-the-counter.

But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stepped in Wednesday and put the kibosh on that plan.

"It is common knowledge that there are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between older adolescent girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age," Sebelius said in a statement. "I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application to make Plan B One-Step available over-the-counter for all girls of reproductive age."

Plan B instead will remain behind the pharmacy counter, available without a prescription only for those 17 and older who show an ID proving their age.

Sebelius nixed the proposal at the eleventh hour because girls as young as 11 are physically capable of having children, and Plan B's maker, Teva Pharmaceuticals, didn't prove that younger girls could properly understand how to use this product without adult guidance.

Conservative groups lauded the decision.

cont at
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_...llowing-over-the-counter-morning-after-pills/
 
I like how conservatives and the think-of-the-children crowd always use the phrase "adult guidance" when they really mean "an adult to stop them from doing it", rather than "an adult to help them decide if they should do it, and to help them do it safely if they do".
 
Obama Calls Morning-After Pill Call 'Common Sense'

President Barack Obama said Thursday it was just common sense to keep girls under the age of 17 from being able to buy a morning-after contraceptive pill off a drugstore shelf. Citing his own two daughters, Obama said: "I think most parents would probably feel the same way."

Plenty of pediatric leaders and women's advocacy groups did not, as reaction flowed in to the administration's decision to prevent the over-the-counter sale of the anti-pregnancy drug to sexually active girls of younger ages.

Critics said politics had trumped science, again.

"When President Obama took office, he pledged the administration's commitment to scientific integrity," said Cynthia Pearson of the National Women's Health Network. "This decision is a betrayal of that promise."

At issue is a pill that can prevent pregnancy if taken soon enough after unprotected sex.

(...)

"I will say this, as the father of two young daughters: I think it is important for us to make sure that, you know, we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine," Obama said in a brief news conference at the White House.

from
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/block-otc-morning-pill-sparks-outrage-15110454
 
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