FDA agrees to ease restrictions on emergency contraceptive

The US Food and Drug Administration said on 22 April that it would accept and not appeal against a New York federal court decision that 17 year old women should be able to buy the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B without a prescription.

The agency said, “In accordance with the court’s order, and consistent with the scientific findings made in 2005 by the [FDA’s] 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 to women 17 years of age and older.”

The case was originally brought in 2005 by the Center for …