The morning-after pill could be available over the counter in New York as early as today, according to pharmacists who plan to stock the controversial contraceptive in their stores.
Until now, women trying to prevent pregnancies needed a prescription to obtain the Plan B pill from their local pharmacies.
Although a doctor’s note is still required for girls age 17 and under, women 18 and older need only show a driver’s license or other proof of age to purchase the emergency birth-control pill.
Officials at Barr Pharmaceuticals, the New Jersey-based company that manufactures the drug, said yesterday that it had begun shipping pills with new labels to pharmacies across the country.
Selig Corman, director of professional affairs for the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, said some drugstores in the state were ready to put the newly labeled drug on the shelves.
“Distributors got it over the weekend and shipped it out for delivery,” Corman said.
Plan B, which was initially cleared for sale in the United States with a prescription in 1999, is designed to prevent pregnancy when taken within 72 hours after sex.
If taken within three days of unprotected sex, a woman can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. If she is already pregnant, the pills have no effect.
Men and women are allowed to purchase the drug. A two-pill pack will cost between $25 and $40.
Barr rakes in about $30 million annually from the Plan B pills, and analysts expect its profits from the drug to triple now.
The Food and Drug Administration in August lifted the prescription requirement for most women after three years of fierce debate in what was viewed as a victory for pro-choice groups and medical associations.
Backers of the drug said eliminating sales restrictions could reduce by half the nation’s 3 million unplanned pregnancies every year.
Detractors, however, argue easier access could increase promiscuity.
Debate over the morning-after pill got so heated that U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) held up Senate confirmation of the man chosen by President Bush to head the FDA until the agency approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B.
Joel Zive, a Bronx pharmacist, said the new regulations don’t go far enough – he believes there should be no age restrictions at all.
He said underage girls have come to him after unprotected sex, desperate for medical direction, which he was helpless to provide.
“I’m not condoning this,” Zive said. “But things happen. And when they happen people should have options.”
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Pharma’s market
Facts about Plan B:
* Can be purchased by men and women 18 and older with proof of age
* Expected to cost between $25 and $40 for a two-pill pack
* Can lower the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex
* Does not prevent sexually transmitted diseases