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Emergency contraception approved in the US

Terri Rutter, Washington

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a special kit for emergency contraception in a move that campaigners hope will cut the number of unwanted pregnancies in the United States.

Although certain oral contraceptives can currently be used "off label" for postcoital prevention of pregnancy, this is the first time a specific combination of ethinyl oestradiol and levo-norgestrel has been approved for postcoital emergency contraception in the United States. Previously emergency contraception has not been widely available, and many women were unaware of its existence.

The Preven Emergency Contraceptive Kit costs about $20 (£12) and is available with prescription only. The kit contains four birth control pills, each containing 0.25 mg levonorgestrel and 0.05 mg ethinyl oestradiol. Two pills are taken within 72 hours after an act of unprotected sex; the other two are taken 12 hours later. The treatment is about 75% effective in preventing pregnancy.

The United States has an estimated 2.7 million unintended pregnancies a year--the highest rate of such pregnancies in the developed world. Studies have estimated that nearly half of these pregnancies could be prevented if women had information about and access to emergency contraception.

"We're very pleased," said Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a network of 900 reproductive healthcare clinics throughout the United States. "Once the product is advertised, labelled, and available, more people will know about it," she said

Although some doctors and clinics have made emergency contraception available for some time, it was only in 1996 that the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of birth control pills for this purpose--a ruling that allowed healthcare providers to be more open about its availability.

A survey conducted last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that two thirds of women at risk of an unintended pregnancy had never heard of emergency contraception. The study also found that only a few doctors knew about it.
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"Emergency contraception" is a misnomer

C O'Loughlin
bmj.com, 16 Sep 1998 [Full text]