New Rules for Plan B | 04/23/2009 11:30 am
17-Year-Olds Can Now Buy Plan B at the Pharmacy
A judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to allow the
morning-after pill to be sold at pharmacies without prescriptions to girls 17 and older.
A judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to allow Plan B to be sold without prescriptions to girls as young as 17. A press release by the FDA states that the morning-after pill, Plan B, will be available for over-the-counter purchase within the next 30 days. The statement released last night reads:
"On March 23, 2009, a federal court issued an order directing the FDA, within 30 days, to permit the Plan B drug sponsor to make Plan B available to women 17 and older without a prescription. The government will not appeal this decision. In accordance with the court’s order, and consistent with the scientific findings made in 2005 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA notified the manufacturer of Plan B informing the company that it may, upon submission and approval of an appropriate application, market Plan B without a prescription to women 17 years of age and older."
Plan B, manufactured by Duramed Research, Inc., has been available at pharmacies without prescriptions for people 18 and older since August 2006.
The ruling then was considered controversial, and the latest order to allow 17-year-olds to purchase the pill — which can prevent an unintended teen pregnancy — sparks further debate because at age 17, a person is still considered a minor. Some think that a parent or an adult should have to accompany the child. Tell us: What do you think of 17-year-olds buying Plan B without a prescription?
In other news, the first television ad promoting the morning-after pill, Levonelle One Step, is set to air at nine o’clock PM today across the UK on channels ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.
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Oh boy, another touchy subject. Sometimes teens just get carried away and sex happens. So the prevention of an unwanted pregnancy is a good thing. On the other hand, the teen isn’t eighteen yet and the parents could protest. What a dilemma. As we all know a lot of teens just won’t tell their parents and would rather hope they got away with it. Bet some younger teens would get siblings or friends over 18 to get the pill for them rather than tell the parents anyway so it may be a moot point. And, the teens that wouldn’t do it might just be the ones who end up pregnant. Boy, this is a complicated situation and always goes back to education and open discussions with ones kids about the whole issue.
I was bothered to hear this. I believe in most states that young ladies have to be eighteen to get a prescription for birth control without their parents’ consent. However, this also lets us know that it’s extremely important to keep communication lines open with our children.
good.
next topic: over the counter birth control without a doctors visit and prescription.
the same can be said for pain killers. when i went to the doctor, my gyno asked me which birth control i wanted and she simply wrote it on a pad of paper. every woman i know (unless they have a dangerous medical problem) has said the same thing - they just tell the doctor what they want and boom, they have a prescription.
No matter, hopefully, a condom is not forgotten in all this to prevent more than pregnancy.
condoms are 85% effective. birth control pills are 99.9% effective - that is a big gap in effectiveness and poor women without health insurance are vicitmized by it.
Was referring to the fact that even if a female takes birth control pills, she should have the man use a condom to help prevent STDS and HIV. Too many times we hear "But I was on the pill ……."
well, for kids to know that, it should be taught to each and every one of them in schools.
thanks to the previous administration, abstinence-only has been the general rule around the nation if you wanted to see federal funds.
Finally, a step in the right direction! This is good news for women everywhere. :-)
Finally, we are emerging from the last administration’s medieval thinking about this. This pill will cost between $35-$60. Most teens do not have that kind of money just floating around, and if they do, it’s off to the mall to spend it. The age needs to be lowered as does the price. 15 year olds are sexually active. For that matter, so are some 14 and 13 year olds. Yes, of course, that’s not a pleasant thought. But neither is a child that age who is pregnant and seeking an abortion.
And heck yes.. boys should have condoms. No free pass for them.
which is worse… a 13 year old using birth control and condoms, or a 14 year old giving birth?
i’d say a child bringing another child into the world is worse. protect our children - educate them, give them the tools, and make them affordable.
As usual, Lemon Tree, you are spot on. Yes, we desperately need to educate our youth. It’s not happening. In some schools there are a couple of films in PE , and that’s about it.
Would more education stop teen pregnancies? No, of course, not. But my guess is the numbers would decline if girls and boys knew more about prevention and if that accessibility for that prevention was not taboo in so many households.
Sadly, many teen boys do not use condoms for three reasons. They don’t know what the heck to buy; they don’t want to be embarrassed trying to put it on; they believe it is the girl’s responsibility to take care of birth control. Let’s add a fourth… they don’t even think about it.