FDA lets politics interfere with the sale of safe drug

Orlando Sentinel: A troubling Government Accountability Office report last week confirms the worst fears about the Food and Drug Administration: That FDA bosses played politics to block over-the-counter sales of a controversial contraceptive.
The GAO, the nonpartisan auditing arm of Congress, reported that FDA bosses decided to recommend blocking the application of the Plan B "morning-after" pill months before the agency's scientific studies were completed.
FDA scientists came to recommend the drug be sold over the counter -- as it is in other countries. The refusal by top administrators to allow the drug's sales sparked the resignation of FDA Assistant Director Dr. Susan Wood.
'The abortion pill'
Plan B is dubbed "the abortion pill" by social conservatives because, when taken within 72 hours of intercourse, it blocks conception with 89 percent reliability. It is available by prescription and is often used to prevent unwanted pregnancies after sexual assaults.
Wood contended that FDA officials buckled under White House pressure to appease conservatives and block the drug. The GAO report states President George W. Bush's FDA appointees took "unusual" steps to block approval.
It is unacceptable that politics would influence the approval of a drug that scientists deem safe and effective. And it does serious damage to the credibility of the FDA. In fact, several states have already begun to allow Plan B sales despite the FDA's refusal to act.
The FDA, above all other agencies, should pay more attention to public health than politics.