WASHINGTON FDA advisers favor over-the-counter morning-after pills

Women need easier access to the pills, proponents say.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Women may soon have an easier way to help prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex now that government advisers have recommended that morning-after birth control should be sold without a doctor's prescription.
"It's extraordinarily safe," said Dr. Alastair Wood of Vanderbilt University, an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration.
In fact, he said, women probably should keep emergency contraception in their medicine cabinet just in case it's ever needed. "We don't tell people to buy a fire extinguisher after the fire started."
The panel voted Tuesday in favor of over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception amid concerns from anti-abortion critics and worries from others that easier access to morning-after pills may increase unsafe sex, particularly among teenagers.
Proponents' argument
But proponents argued there was no evidence that emergency contraception lulls women into complacency about regular birth control or disease. They said wider use of the morning-after pill could cut in half the nation's 3 million unintended pregnancies each year and in turn prevent hundreds of thousands of abortions.
"There is a public health imperative to increase access to emergency contraception," said Dr. Vivian Dickerson, president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The FDA isn't bound by its advisers' recommendations but usually follows them. A decision is expected in late February.
Asked whether political considerations would be taken into account, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said, "We have a lot of information coming in. It's very much a science-based process."
High-dose contraceptive
The morning-after pill is simply a higher dose of regular hormonal contraception, and is sold by prescription under the brand names Plan B and Preven. Plan B's manufacturer wants to sell the drug without a prescription, putting it on pharmacy shelves next to the aspirin and cough medicine.
Taken within 72 hours of intercourse, the pills cut the chances of getting pregnant 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, contraceptive advocates and the nation's largest gynecologists group told the FDA on Tuesday.