LAT: FDA Nominee's Future Hinges on Morning-after Pill

FDA Nominee's Future Hinges on Pill
Lawmakers say approval of the agency's interim chief depends on his decision on the Plan B contraceptive's over-the-counter status.
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Times Staff Writer
August 2, 2006

....Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the FDA needs a permanent commissioner to confront a host of pressing problems. They also agree that (Andrew) von Eschenbach's confirmation will depend on how he handles a single, symbolic issue: the long-delayed, politically charged decision on the morning-after pill, also known as Plan B.

Religious conservatives oppose allowing its sale without a prescription, which they say could encourage promiscuity and sexual exploitation of young girls. FDA medical reviewers and a panel of outside experts have recommended over-the-counter status regardless of age....

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The FDA's refusal to reach a final decision on Plan B has led several prominent doctors and academics to question whether the agency has compromised its scientific independence. From 1994 to 2004, the FDA approved 67 medications for sale without a prescription; Plan B was the only one that was denied approval.

"You are caught, unfortunately, in a situation that gives great pause to many of us because of what it means for the future of the FDA," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told von Eschenbach...."Once we start to politicize the FDA, there is no stopping," she continued. "This is a slippery, dangerous slope we are on, Doctor, and we are looking to you to get a decision made."

Clinton and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) have placed a hold on von Eschenbach's nomination, blocking a floor vote until the FDA makes a decision on Plan B....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pill2aug02,0,1270811.story?coll=la-home-nation

"On the day before his hearing, von Eschenbach released a letter to Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., the maker of Plan B, seeking a compromise and promising a quick decision. But getting an agreement would seem to hinge on the company's ability to convince the FDA that it can keep the drug out of the hands of those younger than 18."


So no one under eighteen needs plan B? And how much success does anybody have keeping anything out the hands of those under 18? It's a ridiculous qualification.

I continue to be truly frightened about what our young women are going to do to for sexual and physical health, up to and including birth control and terminating pregnancies. There is too much rhetoric against birth control, too much misinformation spread about things like sex, Plan B, pregnancy, abortion. Ours is a sexualized nation with confusing and conflicting images.

If a young women is having sex, in my perfect world she would be fully aware of the benefits and consequences, along with her partner, in a mutually respectful relationship, but that doesn't even happen with adults.

Female teenagers aren't even aware of their right or ability for orgasm, much less have a solid understanding of sexual choice. And when a grown woman's right to choose is being attacks on all sides, I don't see the situation getting any better for teenagers.

Since no one has been successful in stopping teenagers from having sex before they are "ready" the next best thing is to have comprehensive education as well encouragement to make decisions for themselves. Since that isn't going to happen either, I would like to see some option. I've seen young women frightened about the possibility of pregnancy. I don't think the experience leads to promicuity, there are other situations that contribute to such things.

Once the ability to become pregnant exists, the possibility exists.

as far as sexual exploitation of young girls, haven't there been quite a few repukes caught with their pants down in that area?

trouble.