Emergency Contraception Provider Responds to Unprecedented Rejection by DHHS Secretary
Digg This!In an unprecedented decision that has prompted outrage by women’s health providers and advocates, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, overruled recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research that would have made Plan B One Step ™ available to all as an over-the-counter product. Plan B One Step ™ has been available without a prescription to women 17 and older, but a prescription has been required for younger women; the proof-of-age restriction has kept the product behind the counter. The sooner Plan B is taken after unprotected sex, the more effectively it reduces the risk of pregnancy.
Family Planning Health Services (FPHS) administers a statewide emergency contraception (EC) hotline which provides Plan B One Step ™ to women in need. Lon Newman, FPHS executive director, commented on the decision: “I am surprised by this administration’s willingness to divorce drug policy from medical evidence, but my response, is grim determination. I am not angry and I am not discouraged.”
Newman explained that the statewide hotline (866-EC-FIRST or 866-323-4778) makes Plan B One Step ™ easily accessible by giving women access to prescribing clinicians and helping them find the fastest and the best no-cost or low-cost delivery in their area. “It is important that people are aware of access to Plan B One Step ™ provided in Wisconsin with the Hotline,” explained Newman. “We want people to have swift access to this medication to help prevent unintended pregnancies. Mistakes can happen. We want people to know they have safe and sound options to help prevent an unintended pregnancy.” National publicity has focused on the policy and controversy, and that may leave women ill-informed or misinformed. Newman gave examples of important points that Wisconsin women of reproductive age should know:
- Plan B – One Step ™ is available and accessible to all women at risk of unintended pregnancy through the statewide network of family planning providers, all of which
provide EC at low or no cost. The EC Hotline 866-EC-FIRST is able to connect people quickly to medication and resources in their area. Plan B One Step ™ remains available to women ages 17 and older over-the-counter.
- There is no medical evidence to support the claim that Plan B One Step ™ prevents implantation of a fertilized egg and it does not disrupt an existing pregnancy.(Source: Contraception Volume 84, Issue 5 , Pages 486-492, November 2011)
There is a great deal of misinformation about this – often from otherwise reliable sources – and this mistaken belief is the reason many women of religious faith are uncertain about whether they should take Plan B One Step ™.
Newman said that there has been a reduction in the unintended pregnancy rate among FPHS patients over the past six years. “Birth control methods have improved over the past few years and our ability to provide them has improved, but the major difference in our protocols has been the provision of EC in advance of need to our patients. I believe that EC has prevented almost 200 unintended pregnancies and more than 75 abortions every year since 2006.”
Newman, when asked about the broader repercussions of Secretary Sebelius’ decision, said that he fears it may foreshadow a separation between the Women’s Health preventive services recommendations of the Institute of Medicine and the Obama administration’s policy for the Affordable Care Act (which makes contraception available through insurance without co-pays or deductibles). “This administration has pledged to base policy on best medical evidence. The public must tell them that it’s time to prove it.”
