Judge on Morning-After Pill: No One Needs Prescription

Directs FDA to sell over-the-counter, even to teens
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 5, 2013 8:11 AM CDT
Judge on Morning-After Pill: No One Needs Prescription
This undated image made available by Teva Women's Health shows the packaging for their Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) tablet, one of the brands known as the "morning-after pill."   (AP Photo/Teva Women's Health)

The FDA must make the morning-after pill available over-the-counter to women of all ages, a federal judge has ruled. It's currently stocked behind the counter, and those under 17 need a prescription. The federal government has debated with itself over the morning-after pill in the past, with the FDA saying it should be available without restriction; but Kathleen Sebelius, head of Health and Human Services, overruled the FDA in 2011 and said it should be restricted for those under 17, reports the New York Times. (More morning after pill stories.)

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