FDA Delays Morning-After Pill Decision [View All]

WASHINGTON - The government on Friday put off its long-awaited final decision on whether to sell emergency contraception without a prescription, saying the pill was safe to sell over-the-counter to adults but grappling with how to keep it out of the hands of young teenagers.

The Food and Drug Administration postponed for 60 days a final decision on how to allow nonprescription sales of the morning-after pill called Plan B just to women 17 or older.

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The drug's maker, Barr Pharmaceuticals, criticized the decision, questioning how the agency could acknowledge that scientific evidence supported nonprescription sales and yet not allow those sales to begin.

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It was Barr's latest disappointment in the two-year battle to sell Plan B without a prescription. Contraceptive advocates and doctors groups say easier access could halve the nation's 3 million annual unintended pregnancies. FDA's scientists call the pills safe, used by more than 2.4 million Americans and millions more women abroad with few side effects.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050826/ap_on_he_me/morning_after_pill
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Boy, the horns of a dilemma: Big Business vs the Christian Right. What's an Administration to do?