Over-The-Counter Sales Reconsidered For Morning-After Pill

[Kadie]

Over-The-Counter Sales Reconsidered For Morning-After Pill
Barr Laboratories Would Set Age Limit On Availability

POSTED: 9:38 am EDT July 23, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The maker of a morning-after birth control pill called Plan B is moving ahead to its own "plan B."

Barr Laboratories is asking the Food and Drug Administration to again consider allowing the pills to be sold over-the-counter -- but only to women 16 and older.

The FDA rejected nonprescription sales two months ago, despite its own scientists advising that easier access to morning-after pills is a safe way to prevent thousands of abortions.

The agency said it would reconsider if Barr proposed to sell over-the-counter with the age restriction, or if it proved the pill's safety in younger girls. The FDA has six months to rule on Barr's new application.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/health/3568870/detail.html

[shoelace414]

1. or they could just help Kerry get elected.

[readmylips]

2. @ $100. a pill over the counter....

you bet the Pharma wants it over the counter.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Where do you get $100 from?

The FDA thought it would be $30-40:
"The product, marketed by prescription in the U.S. since July 1999, could cost between $30-$40 per two dose packet once the product goes over-the-counter."
http://www.fdaadvisorycommittee.com/FDC/AdvisoryCommittee/Committees/Nonprescription+Drugs/121603_PlanB/121603_EmergConR.htm

[NickB79]

19. It would still be a bargain at that price

My girlfriend and I had an accident once, and until her next period rolled around we were freaking out thinking about the worst-case scenario. The morning-after pill was not available anywhere near where we lived at the time, despite our calling local clinics. An abortion costs a minimum of several hundred dollars, is painful, emotionally destructive, and requires (in our case at the time) a 2-hr drive just to get to an abortion provider. The worst you get from the morning-after pill is nausea for a few days.

I'd pay $100 for a pill any day compared to an abortion.

[Shallah Kali]

29. It is $23.99 @ drugstore.com

http://www.drugstore.com/pharmacy/prices/drugprice.asp?ndc=51285003893&trx=1Z5066

I am sure all the same that most stores just want to sell products and lots of them even if they are not $100 per item.

[Warpy]

3. It's already OTC here, although you do have to ask the pharmy

for it. That's a good idea, since the pharmy is the guy who's going to tell a kid how to take it correctly. S/he is also in a position to steer the kid to Planned Parenthood for longer term birth control.

This whole thing is beyond stupid. They really think they're going to control the sexuality of young women by threatening them with pregnancy. It hasn't worked for 2000 years of Christian anti sexual bigotry, and it won't work now.

This stuff is the best chance we have of preventing a whole lot of abortions.

[MaineDem]

26. It's OTC here as well.

And same deal...must ask pharmacist for it.

[havocmom]

4. When licensed pharmacists are given permission to refuse fillin RX for

birth control pills if it 'violates their personal beliefs' there had better be a Plan B. We need to rattle and roar about the fact that there seems to be much effort to be sure and not do/require anything which would violate the personal beliefs of fundamentalist zealots. How about afford protection for those of us whose personal beliefs include the beief that in America, we have freedom from the religious parameters of others?

Zealots claim to be against abortion yet their actions show they are increasing the likelyhood more abortions will be requested. What they are against is individuals exercising the freedom to have control over their own reproductive capacity.

[Nimrod]

5. This is going to be fought tooth and nail

Seeing as how one of the cornerstone values of almost every Repub I've ever met is "MORE BABIES!" No abortions, no morning after pills, no birth control, no sex education... Hell, I've even wondered a few times if besides just the bigotry there's a thought process behind the gay marriage ban saying "If we don't let them marry each other, maybe they'll eventually go get knocked up".

Driving for more little taxpayers in the working class I guess.

[readmylips]

6. You mean more 'white babies'.....

yep...sounds like the radical religious nut my step son married. She's quite a (white) baby maker, encouraged by her church. They have 4 and now they can't even afford to feed them. They live in a pigs pan and the church is nowhere to be found for any type of support, except pray. Who carries the burden? We are placed in the position of being welfare agency grand parents.

[Gin]

8. more babies... is also the plan of the catholic church....they need more

recruits..to be self sustaining..it's all about membership...either in politics or religion...everything is about power, money and manipulation.

[AndyTiedye]

16. Some of the Priests REALLY LIKE Children

And the hierarchy protects them while trying to tell us all how to live. :puke:

[leesa]

31. This is what anti-abortionists never think about. WHO is going to care

for the millions of babies born without any of these population control options. Will we euthanize the unwanteds like we do the puppies and kittens no one wants?

[noonwitch]

7. I am pro-choice, but I oppose making this over the counter.

It's a pill with some serious potential side effects. It causes chemical changes in a woman's body that prevent a fertilized ovum from implanting in the uterus. A doctor needs to prescribe it-if a woman with the wrong health condition took this pill, she could die. I truly think that a woman should see a doctor before and after taking the "morning after" pill.

[DaveSZ]

9. AMA: Morning-After Pill Should Be Available Over The Counter

http://www.kirotv.com/health/3419776/detail.html

AMA: Morning-After Pill Should Be Available Over The Counter

Group Urges Doctors To Write Advance Prescriptions For Pill

POSTED: 9:26 am EDT June 15, 2004
CHICAGO -- The American Medical Association says the Food and Drug Administration was wrong to reject over-the-counter sales of morning-after birth control, and the group is urging doctors to write advance prescriptions.


At its annual meeting in Chicago, the doctors group approved a resolution formally opposing the FDA's position.

Taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, the drug can cut a woman's chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But it can be hard to find a doctor to write a prescription in time, especially on weekends and holidays.

The FDA's acting drug chief had issued a rejection of sales, citing concerns over young teenagers' use of emergency contraception without a doctor's supervision. But he also said the agency would reconsider the decision if given more information.

[yellowcanine]

11. "the group is urging doctors to write advance prescriptions." Legal?

Is that legal or wise? While I think that the MAP should probably be available over-the-counter, though I still think it would be best to be taken under a doctor's supervision - I have qualms about doctors writing "advance prescriptions", particularly for this drug. It could encourage the use of this drug as the contraception of choice rather than as the contraception of last resort. Condoms and other barrier methods are clearly safer and preferable and condoms have the added advantage of protecting against most stds. Advance prescriptions raise all kinds of concerns about abuse. For one, the person the prescription was written for might not be the person taking the drug with possibly dire consequences in the case of an adverse drug interaction. Plus, isn't the MAP a possible problem if a woman is already pregnant? I think there are some serious health issues here for women that should not be taken lightly.

[bleedingheart]

12. I have gotten advance prescriptions for other problems

for example, I get them frequently when I take a drug that happens to have a nasty side effect which may or may not occur...so the doc writes me a script for the analgesic drug...

I have also gotten scripts for conditions that may worsen...for example I got a script for an antibiotic on a thursday visit because the doctor was concerned that my really irritated sinuses were on the verge of an infection...so she gave me explicit instructions on what to look for as a sign of infection and to the fill the script if necessary...luckily for me...I followed her other advice on how to avoid the infection and I didn't need to fill it.

[yellowcanine]

13. Your case not quite the same and also poses some ethical considerations.

Technically the doctor should examine you again before issuing the prescription - I will grant you it is a gray area. There are also prophylactic antibiotic prescriptions before visiting the dentist for people who have mitral valve prolapse - however, these are established medical procedures and the chances for and consequences of abuse not so serious. Someone could give the antibiotic to another person or save it and take it later for some other condition, slightly increasing the chance of antibiotic resistant bacteria. With the MAP, on the other hand, there may be a risk of uncontrolled bleeding, damage to an existing fetus, etc. that medical oversight might have prevented. Not quite the same as the risk of misuse of antibiotics.

[slinkerwink]

15. the MAP isn't a possible problem if the woman is already pregnant

because it's EMERGENCY MORNING AFTER PILL....that means, it's used for emergencies if a condom breaks, etc....or if you've been raped, etc.

[yellowcanine]

21. You missed my point - if a woman is already pregnant and doesn't know it

and takes the MAP for emergency contraception - what then?

[slinkerwink]

22. that's a silly argument

and besides, my point is that the emergency morning after pill is meant for emergencies, and it's not likely a woman can get immediately pregnant right after she has sex, so therefore, what the morning after pill does is lessens the chance of a pregnancy.

[slinkerwink]

23. here you go....the morning after pill won't work if the woman is already

pregnant. Here's a list of the facts.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Emergency contraception is safe and effective.
• Emergency contraception is not the same as mifepristone (RU 486).
It does not cause abortion and will not work if a woman is already
pregnant.
• Increased awareness of and access to emergency contraception would
significantly reduce unintended pregnancies and the need
for abortion.
• Government policies should enhance women’s access to emergency
contraception so that they can act responsibly to prevent pregnancy
and the need for abortion.

ECPs are extremely safe and have been studied for more than 25 years. ECPs have only a few short-term, minor side effects (consistent with those associated with the birth control pill) and can be taken by all women.1 ECPs will not work if a woman is already pregnant and does not harm a pregnancy if one is already established.2

Unlike regular birth control pills, emergency contraception is a back-up method of birth control that is given in a special dose for a single use. As a result, emergency contraception is safe even for women who cannot use birth control pills.

ECPs have proven so safe that they are available without a
prescription in several industrialized nations.3

ECPs are also very effective, reducing a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of contraceptive failure. ECPs are more effective the sooner they are taken.4

Emergency contraception is not the same as mifepristone (RU 486).
It does not cause abortion and will not work if a woman is already
pregnant.

Like other hormonal contraceptive methods, emergency contraceptive pills prevent pregnancy by preventing ovulation, inhibiting fertilization, or interfering with implantation of a fertilized egg. They will not work if a woman is already pregnant.5

The American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the World Health Organization agree that ECPs cannot disrupt an established pregnancy and, thus, do not cause abortion.6

ECPs should not be confused with mifepristone (commonly known as RU 486), which is an early option for non-surgical abortion.

Increased awareness of and access to emergency contraception would
significantly reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion.

Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and over half of those pregnancies end in abortion.7 It is estimated that increased use of ECPs could cut the number of unintended pregnancies in half, significantly reducing the need for abortion.8

link: http://www.naral.org/facts/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=3665

You can read the facts for yourself at that link.

[slinkerwink]

24. aren't you going to respond to point #21?

[slinkerwink]

25. hello?

[slinkerwink]

27. oops, too bad I did such a great smackdown that you apparently

can't respond to.

[slinkerwink]

28. *knocks* *knock* *knock*

hello?

[slinkerwink]

30. still no one there?

[Crowdance]

32. Ignorance again slayed by facts

Slink, you used the one weapon against which anti-choicers have no defense: truth. Thanks for always being at the ramparts, truth in hand.

[slinkerwink]

33. no problem!

:hi:

[bleedingheart]

10. do you realize that these pills have been in use for a long time?

I had a number of friends who used these pills when they had unprotected sex over twenty years ago.

Not that there aren't serious side effects but there are people who die from taking dietary supplements because of allergic reactions they didn't know they had.....

[mulethree]

20. same as taking 12 days worth of regular BC pills in one day

Same drugs as are in many regular BC pills but 6-7X the dosage. You take 2 of them 12 hours apart so it's 12-14X the usual daily BC dosage.

[slinkerwink]

14. that's bullshit......

the odds of dying from this pill is very low, and the odds of dying from other forms of drugs are much higher.

[mandelion]

18. We are so behind the times..

I volunteer my time alot with teenagers and if any of these people would spend the time talking to these young people, they would realize that something like that available over the counter would help these scared teenagers be able to avoid situations further down the road like unplanned pregnancies.

To get the EC here, it's over 80 dollars. That is if you can get the planned parenthood to write you the prescription. I know people say teens are spoiled but 80 bucks is a chunk out of anyone's change; most of the kids I talk to don't have those kind of funds available. So I spend my time trying to help them get to Planned Parenthood and then we talk about options so this doesn't happen again. Most are afraid to go to PP because of the protesting morons who attack them for just being there; even if it's for BC or just for pregnancy check ups.

To be honest, women will find a way to avoid being pregnant. Hell, I read in Cosmo what birth control pills could be used like EC in case of emergency almost 10 years ago. I consulted with a doctor and was told that it was true and doctors had been using that technique for DECADES.

I swear to God, people want women back in the alleys with coat hangers rather than give them options within 72 hours of an accident to resolve a situation.