CONTRACEPTION DEBATE

Enforce the law

The Food and Drug Administration pushed back a final decision regarding the over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception. Struggles with how to keep the morning-after pill, or Plan B, out of the hands of young women were cited.

Despite the FDA's scientific conclusions that assert the safety of the pill and its use without a prescription, it has now called for 60 days of public comment on whether and how drug stores could enforce a possible age limit for the drug, according to The Associated Press.

Apparently, the FDA has now extended its responsibility over and above the safety of a particular drug and has begun sticking its nose in a moral and political battle over the use of the emergency contraception by women of differing ages. This government agency has overstepped its bounds.

The drug, which is referred to by its brand name Plan B, is essentially a high dose of regular birth control that can be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to reduce the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent. There are currently seven states that allow its sale without a prescription.

The main concern that is before the FDA, however, is how to ensure that Plan B does not fall into the hands of minors without the consent of a doctor. But is it truly the responsibility of a doctor to make a decision about the consequences of sex for someone else's child? If parents truly knew what was going on in their child's life, and was there supervising the actions of their daughter, it wouldn't fall on the government to make a decision regarding the sale of such a drug.

Plan B is a drug just like any other. While concern over the reasons young women might use the pill and issues regarding how it will affect sex among youth are still on the table, there is no reason why it should be sold over-the-counter. If a woman needs a prescription to obtain birth control, it is certainly reasonable and expected that she would need doctor's written permission to obtain a higher dose of the same drug regardless of her age, but especially if she is a minor.
And despite the notion that a prescription should be required, a pharmacist might also play a role in the distribution of the drug. Despite Gov. Rod Blagojevich's emergency rule in April that forces pharmacies to fill contraceptives without delay, a pharmacist should have the prerogative to refuse a prescription for the morning-after pill. There are no federal laws regarding the issue. And it is within the respectability of a pharmacist under their code of ethics and Illinois' Practice Act, which requires pharmacists to conduct a prospective drug utilization review, not to dispense a drug they do not see fit for an individual.

Further, without laws forcing young women to obtain a prescription, unprotected sex among youth will increase. It's no secret that minors are already having sex, but once they are given an easy way out when they don't use protection, the rate of such activity will shoot up.

While the FDA has stepped out of its box in its attempts to force some kind of monitoring on the distribution of Plan B to minors, it is surprising and disturbing that a prescription requirement for the drug is not already strictly enforced across the board.


September 2, 2005


http://www.dailyillini.com/media/paper736/news/2005/09/02/Opinions/Editorial.Enforce.The.Law-974597.shtml

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