Readers of this blog already know that politics seems to have overruled science in the deliberations of the Food and Drug Administration about the "morning after pill". The Washington Post editorializes today, occassioned by the Congressional hearing on the nomination of a new chief of the FDA, including the following:
FUNNY HOW a confirmation hearing can prod the Food and Drug Administration into action. Almost-action, that is. The FDA has been dithering for more than three years about whether to allow the Plan B emergency contraceptive to be sold without a prescription, as it is in 45 countries and nine states. Now it may be, finally, on the verge of permitting such sales to those 18 and older, a move that could help prevent enormous numbers of unintended pregnancies every year. Or this could be just another FDA gambit, dangling the prospect of action in hopes of getting the acting commissioner confirmed -- and overcoming the threat of Democratic senators to hold up the nomination until there is a decision. We hope it's the former.......
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, on the eve of his own confirmation hearing this week, announced that he was junking the rulemaking and planned to talk to the manufacturer about how to make an 18-and-over restriction work. Given that retailers routinely require ID for selling alcohol and cigarettes, that should not be too difficult.
This could be good news -- or yet another feint. As Mr. von Eschenbach's letter ominously concluded, "If . . . we conclude that the . . . program isn't sufficiently rigorous" to prevent the over-the-counter product from being used by young girls, "Plan B will remain Rx-only for women of all ages."
That would be a shame. Making emergency contraception widely available could prevent up to 1.5 million unintended pregnancies and 600,000 abortions a year in the United States. Plan A for the FDA should be making Plan B available over the counter.
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