FDA OKs new, 5-day emergency contraceptive
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38697798/ns/health-sexual_health/
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- unimatrix0
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U.S. health officials on Friday approved a new, longer-lasting "morning-after" pill to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.
The prescription drug, called ella, is made by French company HRA Pharma and will be sold in the United States by Watson Pharmaceuticals.
It is the first emergency contraceptive approved since a five-year battle under the Bush administration ended with limited over-the-counter sales and age checks by pharmacists for a rival pill.
Ella has been shown to prevent pregnancy for up to five days after unprotected sex.
The Food and Drug Administration said it cleared ella based on two clinical trials that showed the drug was safe and effective. The drug "is not intended for routine use as a contraceptive," the FDA said in a statement.
Watson said it planned to launch ella in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company has not announced a price.
The drug will compete with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Plan B, which works for up to three days after intercourse. Plan B is available without a prescription for those aged 17 and older, but ella will require a prescription for all ages.
Plan B, first cleared as a prescription drug in 1999, saw dozens of medical and other groups push for over-the-counter use starting in 2001. The Bush administration approved limited "behind-the-counter" sales in 2006.
While morning-after pills have not been huge money-makers, they have generated controversy, especially in the United States.
Sex, birth control and abortion are perennial political hotbeds even though emergency birth control drugs had been available for decades.
Conservatives, Republicans and other critics have said making another morning-after pill available -- one that works even longer after sex -- will further promote promiscuity. They also question ella's safety and say the drug is more akin to an abortion pill than birth control.
Women's groups, Democrats and other advocates say the pills offer women much-needed options to plan their families and provide a safety net when other birth control methods fail or women are raped.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38697798/ns/health-sexual_health/
The prescription drug, called ella, is made by French company HRA Pharma and will be sold in the United States by Watson Pharmaceuticals.
It is the first emergency contraceptive approved since a five-year battle under the Bush administration ended with limited over-the-counter sales and age checks by pharmacists for a rival pill.
Ella has been shown to prevent pregnancy for up to five days after unprotected sex.
The Food and Drug Administration said it cleared ella based on two clinical trials that showed the drug was safe and effective. The drug "is not intended for routine use as a contraceptive," the FDA said in a statement.
Watson said it planned to launch ella in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company has not announced a price.
The drug will compete with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Plan B, which works for up to three days after intercourse. Plan B is available without a prescription for those aged 17 and older, but ella will require a prescription for all ages.
Plan B, first cleared as a prescription drug in 1999, saw dozens of medical and other groups push for over-the-counter use starting in 2001. The Bush administration approved limited "behind-the-counter" sales in 2006.
While morning-after pills have not been huge money-makers, they have generated controversy, especially in the United States.
Sex, birth control and abortion are perennial political hotbeds even though emergency birth control drugs had been available for decades.
Conservatives, Republicans and other critics have said making another morning-after pill available -- one that works even longer after sex -- will further promote promiscuity. They also question ella's safety and say the drug is more akin to an abortion pill than birth control.
Women's groups, Democrats and other advocates say the pills offer women much-needed options to plan their families and provide a safety net when other birth control methods fail or women are raped.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38697798/ns/health-sexual_health/
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- tags:
- Contraception
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cztheday
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I haven't really looked at this issue much, but this seems like a very good development...provided that guys and girls are not lulled into a false sense of security and engage in unprotected sex. That is not a good reason to block or slow the marketing of this product, but I can just see it being used as leverage for the guy to go bareback. One of the few things I envy about my father's generation is that there were fewer incurable STDs.
- 1 year ago
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cztheday
