Company Inquires on Morning-After Pill Sale
WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of a morning-after pill applied for government permission Monday to begin selling the emergency contraceptive without the doctor’s prescription now required.
The maker of Plan B pills hopes to win Food and Drug Administration approval for over-the-counter sales by next year.
Dozens of medical and women’s groups petitioned the FDA two years ago to allow the pills to be sold without a prescription as a way to help women prevent pregnancy following rape, contraceptive failure or just forgetting birth control.
The FDA typically won’t move a drug from prescription to nonprescription status unless the manufacturer makes the request. On Monday, Plan B’s maker, Women’s Capitol Corp., said it had.
The morning-after pill can prevent ovulation or fertilization when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The pills won’t work if the woman already is pregnant.
A completely different pill, RU-486, can cause an abortion if taken in early pregnancy. Abortion foes have been less vocal on morning-after pills.
Morning-after pills already are sold without a prescription in Britain and several European countries.
They also are available without a prescription through a network of pharmacists in Alaska, California and Washington state.
Two brands of morning-after pills, Plan B and Preven, have been sold in the United States by prescription since 1998. Especially high doses of regular birth control pills taken after unprotected sex work, too.
—
On the Net:
More science, space, and technology from RedNova
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.