FDA age restriction on Plan B is too limiting

Re “Plan B Pill Cleared for Sale Over the Counter,” Aug. 25

Bittersweet. It’s a good word to describe the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the controversial contraceptive pill, Plan B. The sweet part is the fact that, after nearly a three-year delay, a decision to allow the drug’s sale is finally here. But the compromise -- that Plan B will only be sold over the counter to women 18 or older -- isn’t a complete victory. It’s worth noting that there are those who will be left behind.

We see them every day at the gynecology clinic: young, sexually active teens to whom we must “teach” birth control. That instruction includes offering them Plan B, “just in case” other birth-control measures fail them. Sometimes, however, it is too late, and our first encounter occurs when they inquire about an abortion or show up for their first prenatal care visit.

Plan B should have been made available over the counter without an age restriction. But because the FDA will now require those under 18 to obtain a prescription for Plan B, we must advocate for increased birth-control education for this population -- education that includes information about and access to this new drug. To deny them that would be a bitter pill to swallow indeed.

HAROLD FOX MD

Professor and Director

Gynecology and Obstetrics

Johns Hopkins University

School of Medicine

Baltimore