FDA Panel Favors Nonprescription 'Morning After' Pill.

UNITED States. Food & Drug Administration ; WOMEN'S Capital Corp. ; BARR Laboratories Inc. 056306780 BRL

Reports that a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory board has recommended that the "morning-after pill," an emergency contraceptive, be sold without prescription at drugstores and pharmacies across the U.S. Results of the vote on the advisory board, signalling that hormonal oral contraceptives will be available over-the-counter, much like aspirin and cold medicines; Issues that were being debated at a meeting of the advisory board, including teenage sexuality and abortion rights; Details of an agreement between Women's Capital Corp., a company founded by women's health activists that brought the emergency contraceptive Plan B to market, and Barr Laboratories, a major generic drug maker; Statistics related to Plan B sales in 2003, indicating that Women's Capital lacked the marketing and distribution muscle of Barr; Evidence submitted by Women's Capital and Barr to the FDA in an effort to convince the regulatory agency that the contraceptive should be marketed over-the-counter.