15 November, 2005 19:26 GMT
The furor over the FDA's rejection of over-the-counter sales of Plan B is intensifying, with a nonpartisan team now questioning the agency's decision-making process.
Top federal drug officials reportedly jumped the gun in rejecting over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill. Published reports say the officials decided to reject the plan months before completion of a government scientific review of the application, according to accounts given to congressional investigators.
The
Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, concluded that the
Food and Drug Administration's May 2004 rejection of the morning-after pill, or emergency contraceptive, application was unusual in several respects.
Flashpoint in Abortion Debate
Top agency officials were deeply involved in the decision, which was very, very rare, a top FDA review official told investigators, the New York Times said.
The pill, called Plan B, is a flashpoint in the debate over abortion, in part because some abortion opponents consider the pill tantamount to ending a pregnancy.
In scientific reviews, the FDA has concluded that it is a contraceptive.
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