Women’s Capitol Corp., which distributes the “morning after” pill Plan B, has filed a request the Food and Drug Administration to allow it to sell the drug over the counter.
Plan B has been available by prescription in the United States since 1999 and the privately held company has sold about 3 million Plan B kits. If the initial pill is taken within 72 hours after having unprotected sex, Plan B reduces the risk of pregnancy to around 1 percent.
Morning after pills are available in other countries, such as France, but the sale of such drugs even by prescription is controversial in the United States due to opposition from anti-abortion activists. Since Plan B works by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg onto the wall of the uterus, some activists view it as little more than a chemical abortion.
A decision from the FDA on the OTC application is unlikely until sometime in early 2004.
Sources:
‘Morning After’ Pill Maker Asks FDA to OTC Switch. Kate Fodor, Reuters, April 21, 2003.
Easier ‘morning-after’ access sought. Rita Rubin, USA Today, February 14, 2001.