Tuesday, August 01, 2006

A Victory For Members of Sex-Based Cults Everywhere

The small but growing number of regular readers of this blog may remember my previous posts about the saga of Plan B, the effective and safe contraceptive that was rejected for over the counter sale by the government agency responsible for regulating drug efficacy and safety not because it wasn't safe or effective, but because, in the words of deputy commissioner for operations at the FDA at the time, Janet Woodcock (huh huh....huh huh...Woodcock....huh huh)out of concern for things like:

making the drug available over the counter could lead to "extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an 'urban legend' status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B."

I swear she said that.

Today we have news that the FDA may be having a change of heart. According to the New York Times:

The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it was moving toward endorsing sale of the morning-after pill without a prescription for women 18 and older, signaling what may be the end of one of the most stubborn health policy debates of the Bush administration.

The agency’s acting commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, asked the drug’s manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals, for a meeting to complete plans that would allow the over-the-counter sale of the emergency contraceptive, called Plan B. In a statement, the F.D.A. said it hoped “the process can be wrapped up in a matter of weeks.”

While the agency’s letter to Barr was not a final approval, both the F.D.A. and the company expressed optimism about the drug’s future.


Hmmmm....within 3 years we've gone from government officials worrying about teenagers fucking in the streets to wanting to wrap up the OTC approval process in a matter of weeks. Three theories as to what's behind this flip-flop, from most likely to least likely.

1) Acting commissioner Eschenbach is trying to become permanent commissioner Eschenbach, and is saying what he thinks it will take in order to get past the Senate confirmation process.

2) People at the FDA have realized Janet Woodcock was insane.

3) The Bush administration has started to care about women's health.

Assuming it's theory #1 in play here, it'll be interesting to see if the same commitment to "wrap up the process" holds after Dr. Eschenbach gets the permanent job. His predecessor, Dr. Lester Crawford, said during his confirmation that if confirmed he would make a decision on Plan B by September 1, 2005. He either lost his calendar or he lied. Knowing how the Bush administration treats the truth like a seldom seen relative, embracing it only on special occasions, I'm holding off starting my cult until I see the OTC Plan B on my shelf.

Read the whole Times story here.

1 comment:

Otis said...

Too bad Woodcock missed the boat...