FDA: Over-the-counter sale of morning-after pill OK for ages

[Politically_Incorrect12]

  FDA: Over-the-counter sale of morning-after pill OK for ages 15 and up; cashier to check age


WASHINGTON — The government is moving the morning-after pill over the counter but only those 15 and older can buy it — an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the emergency contraceptive.

Today, Plan B One-Step is sold behind pharmacy counters, and buyers must prove they’re 17 or older to buy it without a prescription. Tuesday’s decision by the Food and Drug Administration lowers the age limit and will allow the pill to sit on drugstore shelves next to spermicides or other women’s health products and condoms — but anyone who wants to buy it must prove their age at the cash register.




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Some contraceptive advocates called the move promising.

“This decision is a step in the right direction for increased access to a product that is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “It’s also a decision that moves us closer to these critical availability decisions being based on science, not politics.”

Read more at:  www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fda-over-the-counter-sale-of-morning-after-pill-ok-for-ages-15-and-up-cashier-to-check-age/2013/04/30/0e26d910-b1fb-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story.html

[Politically_Incorrect12]

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

[Virgil Showlion]

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything thier kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

Give it another five years and every kid age 8 or older will have at least one sexually transmitted disease anyway.

Lab-on-a-chip technology is making leaps and bounds. Soon, parents will monitor their kids' sexual activity by administering "STD Jr." one-minute STD tests every day when their kids come home from preschool. The same tests will be able to detect abortifacient drugs. A whole new industry will blossom.

Then you'll face an inevitable civil rights debate, and the moral future of the nation will be decided by an unholy war between the STD lab-on-a-chip corporations and "keep parents out of our bedrooms" activists.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

how does this law keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing?

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 18:27:33 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything thier kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

Give it another five years and every kid age 8 or older will have at least one sexually transmitted disease anyway.
.

if you keep making statements like that, i am going to send you a yellow cape and a mask.

[Virgil Showlion]

Apr 30, 2013 18:34:18 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

how does this law keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing?

What's harder for a 15-year-old to conceal: a trip to a doctor's office to obtain a prescription, then a visit to the prescription counter at a drug store and 20-minute wait to pick up the pills; or a 3-minute trip in and out of a drugstore paying at the front counter?

[Virgil Showlion]

Apr 30, 2013 18:36:54 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:27:33 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Give it another five years and every kid age 8 or older will have at least one sexually transmitted disease anyway.
.

if you keep making statements like that, i am going to send you a yellow cape and a mask.

Sure it's an exaggeration. But you do have 130-something million people with STDs and rising.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 18:43:15 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:36:54 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

if you keep making statements like that, i am going to send you a yellow cape and a mask.

Sure it's an exaggeration. But you do have 130-something million people with STDs and rising.

you?

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 18:37:49 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:34:18 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

how does this law keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing?

What's harder for a 15-year-old to conceal: a trip to a doctor's office to obtain a prescription, then a visit to the prescription counter at a drug store and 20-minute wait to pick up the pills; or a 3-minute trip in and out of a drugstore paying at the front counter?

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

If they need Plan B, I think the problem is that the parents in question already don't know what their kid is doing.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 18:49:09 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

If they need Plan B, I think the problem is that the parents in question already don't know what their kid is doing.

straight up.

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Apr 30, 2013 18:49:09 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:02:52 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So parents are responsible for everything their kids do, but then we make laws like this to try and keep parents from knowing what their kids are doing. 

If they need Plan B, I think the problem is that the parents in question already don't know what their kid is doing.

So you want it to be easier?

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:37:49 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

What's harder for a 15-year-old to conceal: a trip to a doctor's office to obtain a prescription, then a visit to the prescription counter at a drug store and 20-minute wait to pick up the pills; or a 3-minute trip in and out of a drugstore paying at the front counter?

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

So your idea is just give to them and make it easier because "they'll get it one way or another anyway?"

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:02:03 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

So your idea is just give to them and make it easier because "they'll get it one way or another anyway?"

would it surprise you to know that i am in favor of the parental consent law?

knowing that, what do you think i meant?

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 19:01:14 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:49:09 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

If they need Plan B, I think the problem is that the parents in question already don't know what their kid is doing.

So you want it to be easier?

Having sex? No.  That should be hard.  Know where your kids are going, who they are with, and what kind of supervision they have.  Do your homework, parents.

Making responsible choices if you are having sex? Yes.  That should be easy.

Avoiding a pregnancy or abortion if your primary method of birth control fails? Yes.  That should be easy too.

[Virgil Showlion]

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:37:49 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

What's harder for a 15-year-old to conceal: a trip to a doctor's office to obtain a prescription, then a visit to the prescription counter at a drug store and 20-minute wait to pick up the pills; or a 3-minute trip in and out of a drugstore paying at the front counter?

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

I have to agree with PI.

"They'll just get them illegally." is a lousy justification.

We might as well do away with prescriptions entirely. After all, people will just get the drugs illegally anyway.

[Virgil Showlion]

Avoiding a pregnancy or abortion if your primary method of birth control fails? Yes.

A simple application of Bayes' rule tells us that 95%+ of girls using the morning after pill will be doing so because they used no primary method of birth control.

If you contest that fact, I can give you a straightforward mathematical proof.

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 19:02:03 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

So your idea is just give to them and make it easier because "they'll get it one way or another anyway?"

Emergency contraception is just a larger dose of your regular, run of the mill oral contraceptive.
If you have a girlfriend on "the pill" (pretty much any of them), you can google how many to take if you need emergency contraception. ec.princeton.edu/questions/dose.html 

That process screws up your responsible friend's prescription and precludes a pharmacist from intervening/recommending a more reliable form of contraception. 

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:05:55 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what's harder: getting the drugs illegally over the internet, or getting a prescription?

I have to agree with PI.

"They'll just get them illegally." is a lousy justification.

it is totally unsurprising to me that you agree with PI.  however, his "justification" had nothing to do with my point, whatsoever.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:05:55 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

We might as well do away with prescriptions entirely. After all, people will just get the drugs illegally anyway.

you are getting better at non-sequitur's every day.  Paul will ready your vacation suite in Miami.

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Apr 30, 2013 19:04:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:02:03 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So your idea is just give to them and make it easier because "they'll get it one way or another anyway?"

would it surprise you to know that i am in favor of the parental consent law?

knowing that, what do you think i meant?

Why don't you just tell me so there is no guessing...

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Apr 30, 2013 19:11:03 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:05:55 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

I have to agree with PI.

"They'll just get them illegally." is a lousy justification.

it is totally unsurprising to me that you agree with PI.  however, his "justification" had nothing to do with my point, whatsoever.

I was trying to get clarification of your point, as it seems to be your point that they can get it anyway, so might as well make it easier. I'm confused by why "his" is underlined and in bold in your post, unless you are somehow downplaying my disagreement due to my gender. 

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 19:09:20 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Avoiding a pregnancy or abortion if your primary method of birth control fails? Yes.

A simple application of Bayes' rule tells us that 95%+ of girls using the morning after pill will be doing so because they used no primary method of birth control.

If you contest that fact, I can give you a straightforward mathematical proof.

Okay... show me your work 

Emergency contraception is going to be used following "crap, we forgot the condom" "crap, I forgot about antibiotics and the pill" and "crap, the condom slipped/tore" interactions.

While I suspect the first group is the most common, the first group is also the sort to cross their fingers and hope for the best.  The group that ordinarily uses contraception seems more likely to worry about the consequences of their actions within the first 72 hours.

But that's just me.  If you've got math, I'd be happy to see it - I'm just not sure where you would get your data other than the typical 95% success rates for various contraceptives, but that's not relevant here.

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Apr 30, 2013 19:10:55 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:02:03 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

So your idea is just give to them and make it easier because "they'll get it one way or another anyway?"

Emergency contraception is just a larger dose of your regular, run of the mill oral contraceptive.
If you have a girlfriend on "the pill" (pretty much any of them), you can google how many to take if you need emergency contraception. ec.princeton.edu/questions/dose.html 

That process screws up your responsible friend's prescription and precludes a pharmacist from intervening/recommending a more reliable form of contraception. 

So if it's just a "run of the mill oral contraceptive," that requires a prescription, why shouldn't this pill also require one?

[Virgil Showlion]

Apr 30, 2013 19:11:03 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:05:55 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

I have to agree with PI.

"They'll just get them illegally." is a lousy justification.

it is totally unsurprising to me that you agree with PI.  however, his "justification" had nothing to do with my point, whatsoever.

I just find it amusing to imagine Deejayland, where anybody could do anything through successive applications of "people will just do it anyway".

You're like the real life incarnation of Andrew Ryan.

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 19:19:30 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:10:55 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Emergency contraception is just a larger dose of your regular, run of the mill oral contraceptive.
If you have a girlfriend on "the pill" (pretty much any of them), you can google how many to take if you need emergency contraception. ec.princeton.edu/questions/dose.html 

That process screws up your responsible friend's prescription and precludes a pharmacist from intervening/recommending a more reliable form of contraception. 

So if it's just a "run of the mill oral contraceptive," that requires a prescription, why shouldn't this pill also require one?

I'd come down on the side of regular oral contraceptives shouldn't need a prescription, so I'm the wrong person to ask on this one. I imagine it has to do with the lifetime risk of complications (blood clots) being higher with continuous use.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:13:58 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:04:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

would it surprise you to know that i am in favor of the parental consent law?

knowing that, what do you think i meant?

Why don't you just tell me so there is no guessing...

because you seem disposed to guessing. 

the discussion i started with Virgil had to do with knowing what your kids are doing.  my point is that parental consent laws don't help with that, from my perspective.  kids that are lying to their parents about their sex lives are going to maintain that lie all the way to the back alley abortion doctor or planned parenthood, or on line Mexican pharmacies.  they will lie about their age, their location, their name, and so on, to keep secrets.  so, you might ask, why am i in favor of parental consent laws?  because i think that there is a limit to how much power a child should have over their own bodies.  a good relationship will mean that there is consent between parent and child, and communication on these issues.  and the law will compel a well behaved child into a certain strategy that might be embarrassing to them otherwise.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:19:54 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Apr 30, 2013 19:11:03 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

it is totally unsurprising to me that you agree with PI.  however, his "justification" had nothing to do with my point, whatsoever.

I just find it amusing to imagine Deejayland, where anybody could do anything through successive applications of "people will just do it anyway".

you like to invent fictions about other people.  you and Walt Disney would have got along marvelously.

You're like the real life incarnation of Andrew Ryan.

you have no idea who i am, Virgil.  and i have no idea who Andrew Ryan is.

[Deleted]

 Imagine a world where all people remained "chaste" unless married. Where all brides are virgins, and where sexual congress is limited to The Missionary Position, and it is only performed for procreational purposes (i.e., absolutely NO "recreational" sex). Unmarried individuals would have to be totally celibate.
 That's what some people demand... and, if human History is any indication, it's a very unrealistic demand. 
 Childishly unrealistic.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 30, 2013 19:31:07 GMT -5 @patiencetried said:

 Imagine a world where all people remained "chaste" unless married. Where all brides are virgins, and where sexual congress is limited to The Missionary Position, and it is only performed for procreational purposes (i.e., absolutely NO "recreational" sex). Unmarried individuals would have to be totally celibate.
 That's what some people demand... and, if human History is any indication, it's a very unrealistic demand. 
 Childishly unrealistic.

not if you are a radical Islamist.  if you are a radical Islamist, it is a goal worthy of pursuit.