The Food and Drug Administration is debating whether emergency contraceptive, currently available with a prescription from the Women’s Clinic of the LSU Health Center, will be sold over the counter.
EC, also known as the morning-after pill, is a two-dose oral method of birth control taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex to prevent fertilization of an egg.
“Emergency contraceptive can decrease a woman’s chance of pregnancy by up to 89 percent,” said Christina Kucera, director of Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta.
Since EC can only be acquired with a prescription, it is currently unavailable when the University Heath Center and other local providers are closed, mainly weekends and holidays. The FDA is concerned that those are times ‘when women might need EC the most.
In December 2003, two FDA advisory committees recommended that a brand of EC called Plan B be made available without a doctor’s prescription.
Not all the doctors at the on-campus Women’s Clinic are authorized to write prescriptions for Plan B, so making an appointment is often necessary to receive the medication.
“The name ‘Plan B’ was chosen in order to communicate that this is plan B. Plan A is abstinence, family planning, and routine methods of birth control,” said Dr. Carole Ben-Maimon, president of Barr Laboratories, the manufacturer of Plan B.
EC meets the criteria for over-the-counter drugs including low toxicity, no potential for overdose or addiction, self indication of need and uniform dosage.
Common side effects of Plan B include nausea, cramping, dizziness and irregular bleeding.
“[EC] might cause serious bleeding and has the potential for adverse medical reactions,” said Kathy Saichuk, LSU Wellness Education coordinator. “From a health standpoint, I have concerns. Proper usage and knowledge of possible side effects is very important.”
“If a Plan B user is pregnant from a previous sexual encounter, the drug will not harm the fetus, said Kucera. “That fact makes Plan B less controversial than RU-486, the abortion pill.”
Opponents of Plan B believe that wider access to the contraceptive will increase sexual carelessness, especially among teens.
        “There could be opportunities for misuse and the risk that women may engage in less healthy sexual behaviors, such as assuming EC provides protection from sexually transmitted infections, which it does not,” Saichuk said. “People might assume that [EC] is an automatic answer.”
Those in favor of over-the-counter EC agree otherwise.
“Plan B is much more expensive and uncomfortable than using a condom and that will keep women from using it as a regular method of birth control,” Kucera said. “Once [Plan B] is widely accessible, it will help to prevent the 1.7 million unwanted pregnancies and 800,000 abortions that occur every year.”
Student opinions about making EC over-the-counter vary.
“Personally, I think [EC] should be sold at a pharmacy,” said Anna DesOrmeaux, an art history and psychology senior, and current president of Sexual Health Advocates. “I had a 17-year-old friend who called me one night in tears after a condom broke during sex. I was on the phone for hours trying to find a place where she could get the morning-after pill. It is not an issue of carelessness, but of preventing unwanted pregnancy.”
Many major health care organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, support making EC available without a prescription.
The FDA’s decision is expected in late February.