http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10038695/

Quote :

"FDA decision on morning-after pill ‘unusual’ Report: Management more involved in review than other applications WASHINGTON - Federal health officials didn’t follow normal procedures in rejecting over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill — and some documents suggest the decision was made even before scientists finished reviewing the evidence, congressional investigators reported Monday. Politics trumped science, immediately charged long-suspicious members of Congress who had requested the independent audit. “We are deeply opposed to this subversion of science,” Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and 17 other lawmakers wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. They urged that Leavitt, who oversees FDA, intervene to assure that a pending reconsideration of the pill’s status “is based on the best available science instead of ideology.” The morning-after pill is a high dose of regular birth control that, taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. The sooner it’s taken, the better it works, but it can be difficult for women to get a prescription in time. In December 2003, FDA’s scientific advisers overwhelmingly backed over-the-counter sales for all ages, citing assessments that easier access could halve the nation’s 3 million annual unintended pregnancies. But the following May, FDA leaders rejected that recommendation, citing concern about young teens’ use of the pills without a doctor’s guidance. The maker reapplied, seeking to sell Plan B without a prescription to women 16 or older while younger teens continue to get a doctor’s note, much like the age restrictions that govern cigarette sales. In August, FDA’s then-commissioner postponed that decision indefinitely, saying it wasn’t clear how the FDA could enforce an age limit. The independent Government Accountability Office reviewed FDA’s first rejection, uncovering what they called “unusual” decision-making. Among the findings: - Conflicting accounts of whether the decision was made months before scientific reviews were completed. - Unusual involvement from high-ranking agency officials. - Three FDA directors who normally would have been responsible for signing off on the decision did not do so because they disagreed with it."

Given the already high disparity between the number of adoptions and number of children being given up for adoption, why not make the morning-after pill available over the counter?

11/14/2005 2:50:46 PM

BEACAUSE ALL THEM JEZEBELS WILL BE OUT HAVIN SEX ALL THE TIME. PROMISSSCUITYY!!!

Seriously, this is fucking dumb. The only people against this are the religious right and people who will follow the current admin. to the edges of the earth.

11/14/2005 2:53:10 PM

ONE DAY WE WILL HAVE A CHRISTIAN PRESIDENT SO WE CAN STOP THIS HEDONY

[Edited on November 14, 2005 at 3:03 PM. Reason : or perhaps 43 of them....consecutively ]

11/14/2005 2:57:44 PM

HEDONY

11/14/2005 3:10:08 PM

they should put that shit in all public water supplies

11/14/2005 3:36:09 PM

Given the choice, I'd give this stuff away. Better have them prevented than aborted

11/14/2005 3:45:36 PM

Yeah, but apparently the right doesn't care too much about that.

11/14/2005 4:06:42 PM

elitists cocksuckers

11/14/2005 4:16:46 PM

nevermind.

[Edited on November 14, 2005 at 4:43 PM. Reason : a]

11/14/2005 4:42:24 PM

thats if you take it

unintended =/= unwanted

11/14/2005 4:43:54 PM

"i want the pill on my hotel pillow, complementary" ~Margaret Cho

11/14/2005 4:47:14 PM

I want it to be sold in gumball machines

11/14/2005 4:48:07 PM