'Morning-After' Pill Approved by the FDA

[Frodo]

‘Morning After’ Pill Is Cleared for Wider Sales

By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: August 24, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 — The Food and Drug Administration today approved over-the-counter sales of the “morning-after” contraceptive pill to women 18 and older, resolving one of the most contentious issues in the agency’s 100-year history.

The drug, an emergency contraceptive called Plan B that is manufactured by Barr Laboratories, will be sold only in pharmacies and health clinics. To buy it, women will have to show proof of age. Girls under the age of 18 will still need a prescription to get the drug.

Acting F.D.A. Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach said in a memorandum released this morning that he had decided that 18 was the appropriate cut-off age for sales because pharmacies already restrict nicotine and cold medicines that way.

“This approach builds on well-established state and private-sector infrastructures to restrict certain products to consumers 18 and older,” Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach wrote.