U.S. teenagers should be given prescriptions for emergency contraception to keep on hand in case they ever need it, the American Academy of Pediatrics said.
Emergency contraception, such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA)’s Plan B One Step, should be given to teens directly ahead of time, or they should get prescriptions that will allow them to have access to the drugs as needed, the doctors’ group said in a policy statement online today.
The pills are available now without a prescription to females 17 and older and males 18 and older. A move by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow emergency contraception to be sold over the counter to girls younger than 17 was rejected by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in December 2011. The academy encouraged pediatricians to push for increased non-prescription access.
“The point of this whole piece would be to reduce unintended pregnancy,” said Cora Breuner, a member of the academy’s committee on adolescence who was a lead author of the statement.
The academy didn’t discuss the age of teenagers that should be given advance prescriptions, said Breuner, a physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The group suggests that pediatricians have discussions with their patients about sexual activity, and give prescriptions to those who are active.
Awaiting Ruling
The center is awaiting a federal judge’s ruling in Brooklyn, New York, on its lawsuit against Sebelius and the FDA to allow over-the-counter access to emergency contraception regardless of age.
“If we don’t have the court ruling before, then the anniversary of Sebelius’ ruling will be a teachable moment for us to remind the administration why it was bad,” Kirsten Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, said in a telephone interview.
Moore said her Washington-based organization will release stories on the Internet of adults who were denied access to emergency contraception because of forgotten identification on their way to the gym or in the confusion of the moment.
“We will be ramping up those efforts in the hopes that in a second administration the doors won’t be slammed shut,” Moore said.
Bloomberg has the full article
