FDA Finally Does the Right Thing (Sorta)

After delaying approval for years, the Food and Drug Administration has finally approved Plan B for over-the-counter sales to women over the age of 18, something that their own advisory panel recommended a long time ago, but that was left in limbo as the agency caved to pressure from the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party.

From The Washington Post:

The Food and Drug Administration approved an application today making the long-debated emergency contraceptive Plan B, commonly known as the "morning-after pill", available without a prescription to women 18 and older.

The FDA said Barr Laboratories, the maker of Plan B, could begin selling the drug.

Many social conservatives in and out of Congress have battled to keep the drug from becoming available without a prescription. Some say that could encourage promiscuity, and others say use of the pill causes a very early abortion. Their position had for almost three years trumped an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that the drug could be safety dispensed by a pharmacist without a prescription.

...

"This is something that women's health groups have been working on for more than a decade," said Amy Allina of the National Women's Health Network. "If the decision comes out as we expect it to, that's a real victory."

Allina added that restricting access to women 18 and older is disappointing. "There's no medical or scientific reason for restricting access. It sends a message that it's somehow less safe for younger women, which just isn't true," she said.

So what caused the sudden change of heart? Our Democratic Senators played a little hardball:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) put a hold on the nomination last year because of what they said was the agency's refusal to make a decision about the drug. They accused the administration of politicizing science regarding Plan B by not accepting the recommendations of an expert advisory panel and the FDA's own scientific staff.

Check out this post for more.