Who Needs the FDA When You've Got Jesus?

InchoateHand · #1 08-31-2005, 03:13 PM

Way to go Religious Right! Rock on!

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 31, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A high-ranking Food and Drug Administration official resigned Wednesday in protest over the agency's refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception.

Susan Wood, director of FDA's Office of Women's Health, announced her resignation in an e-mail to colleagues at the agency. The e-mail was released by contraception advocates.

The FDA last Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to be sold without a prescription. The agency said it was safe for adults to use without a doctor's guidance but was unable to decide how to keep it out of the hands of young teenagers without a prescription -- a decision contrary to the advice of its own scientific advisers.

"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled," wrote Wood, who also was assistant commissioner for women's health. "The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions, is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health."

Plan B's maker has been trying for two years to begin nonprescription sales, and the FDA's latest postponement of its fate was a surprise: Commissioner Lester Crawford won Senate confirmation to take his job only after promising members of Congress to make a final decision by Sept. 1.

Broken Glass Can · #2 08-31-2005, 03:57 PM

Good, another subversive mole is out of our government. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

ThaSaltCracka · #3 08-31-2005, 04:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
"The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions,

[/ QUOTE ] How about they use condoms? Just a thought.

InchoateHand · #4 08-31-2005, 04:14 PM

Yeah, thanks TSC, I was trying to figure out why name brand emergency contraception is called "Plan B." Your pithy wisdom has peeled back the twisted skin on this complex riddle.

Readily available emergency contraceptives don't decrease condom use--but they provide a nice fallback plan when something goes wrong.

But let me guess. "Personal responsiblity" means everything has to go right on the first try, huh?

There are a lot of sexually transmitted diseased to protect against besides pregnancy (a fatal STD). Plenty of good reasons to wear a condom. No good reasons to prevent OTC sales of emergency contraception, unless said good reason is predicated on an article of religious faith. Feel free to read some time.

Keep it up champ, you fit right in here.

bobman0330 · #5 08-31-2005, 04:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Readily available emergency contraceptives don't decrease condom use--but they provide a nice fallback plan when something goes wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this true?

InchoateHand · #6 08-31-2005, 04:23 PM

Yes, thats the result of the FDAs own research.

mmbt0ne · #7 08-31-2005, 04:23 PM

Is Plan B the secondary drug to RU-486 that has killed a couple people? I honestly have no clue, but the name led me to think of it.

Broken Glass Can · #8 08-31-2005, 04:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, thanks TSC, I was trying to figure out why name brand emergency contraception is called "Plan B." Your pithy wisdom has peeled back the twisted skin on this complex riddle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, Plan A is having self-control.

Plan B is for those who fail plan A. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

ThaSaltCracka · #9 08-31-2005, 04:26 PM

where a condom. If for some reason it breaks and you think you are pregnant, go to your doctor and get the prescription.

InchoateHand · #10 08-31-2005, 04:34 PM

No, Plan B is entirely unrelated to RU 486. It cannot terminate a pregnancy. It would have essentially no effect on a pregnant woman past the first 72-96 hours after conception.

Improving women's access to emergency contraception does not increase women's reliance on it as a primary method of birth control. Women who were given ECPs to take home used other birth control methods at the same rate as women who did not have the pills in their medicine cabinets. Women who had the pills at home were more likely to use emergency contraception once. But they were not more likely to use it repeatedly. Women who had home access to ECPs used the method correctly 98 percent of the time and had fewer unintended pregnancies than those who did not have ECPs at home (Glasier & Baird, 1998).

Glasier, Anna & David Baird. (1998). "The Effects of Self-Administering Emergency Contraception." New England Journal of Medicine, 339(1), 1-4.

A study of adolescent mothers examined the impact of giving teenagers ECPs before they need them. One group of teen mothers received education about ECPs and were given an advance supply of the pills. Another comparison group received only education about ECPs. Eighty-five percent of the group that received the pills used ECPs, as compared to only 19 percent of the education-only group. The group that received ECPs was not more likely to report having unprotected sex within the six months following receipt of the pills (Belzer, et al., 2003).
Belzer, Marvin, et al. (2003). "Advanced Supply of Emergency
Contraception for Adolescent Mothers Increased Utilization without Reducing Condom or Primary Contraception Use." Journal of Adolescent Health, 32(2), 122-123

The FDAs advisory committee approved the application twice. A large body of literature points to the safety and efficacy of ECs. There is no reason not to make them readily available, and they reduce abortions. Whats not to love?