Posts Tagged FDA

By Katie Halper • 11 years ago

Big pharma’s latest secret: the morning after pill may not work if you weigh over 165 pounds

The morning after pill may be less effective on women who weigh 165 pounds or more; it may be totally ineffective on women who weigh 176 pounds or more; in Europe, the morning after pill is not recommended for women who weigh 165 pounds or more. So why doesn’t the average American woman know that her emergency contraception might not work? 

The morning after pill may be less effective on women who weigh 165 pounds or more; it may be totally ineffective on women who weigh 176 pounds or more; in Europe, the morning after pill is ...
By Alexandra Brodsky • 11 years ago

Weekly Feminist Reader: Mother’s Day Edition

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Mother’s Day letter by Gloria Malone: “The problem with being a teen mom is that I don’t hate myself nearly as much as you wish I did.”

To celebrate Mother’s Day, give the gift of prison phone justice.

Mamas in the South continue the fight for reproductive justice.

Download a Mother’s Day mix from the CFC.

The Racialicious Crush of the Week is the Strong Families’ Mama’s Day Campaign.

Our mothers know they’re doing a great job.

A love note to black mothers.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac breaks down the history of Mother’s Day.

Birth mothers are too often forgotten, and too rarely

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Mother’s Day letter by Gloria Malone: “The problem with being a teen mom is that I don’t hate myself nearly as much as you wish I did.”

To celebrate Mother’s Day,

By Lori Adelman • 11 years ago

Age restrictions on emergency contraception access are unacceptable

Feministing co-founder Jessica Valenti has a well written and compelling piece in the Nation today on the FDA’s decision to make emergency contraception, or the morning after pill, available over the counter to women older than 15 years old who can “prove their age”.

From the FDA press release:

The product will now be labeled “not for sale to those under 15 years of age *proof of age required* not for sale where age cannot be verified.” Plan B One-Step will be packaged with a product code prompting a cashier to request and verify the customer’s age. A customer who cannot provide age verification will not be able to purchase the product. In addition, Teva has ...

Feministing co-founder Jessica Valenti has a well written and compelling piece in the Nation today on the FDA’s decision to make emergency contraception, or the morning after pill, available over the counter to women older than ...
By Syreeta McFadden • 11 years ago

Breaking: Judge orders FDA to make the morning-after pill available over-the-counter for all ages

Whoo hooo! Now this just makes common sense:

 A federal judge has ruled that the Unites States government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a prescription for girls 16 and under.

The decision, on a fraught and politically controversial subject, comes after a decade-long fight over who should have access to the pill and under what circumstances, and it counteracts an unprecedented move by the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services secretary who in 2011 overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration to make the pill available for all ages without a prescription.

There will inevitably be more to tease out in terms of details and implementation, and ...

Whoo hooo! Now this just makes common sense:

 A federal judge has ruled that the Unites States government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a ...
By Alexandra Brodsky • 12 years ago

Pediatricians say emergency contraception should be available to women of all ages

Just days after OB/GYNs called for the pill to be available over-the-counter, pediatricians are recommending that emergency contraception be more readily accessible for teens.

Last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius refused to allow EC to be available without a prescription for women under 17. In doing so, she acted contrary to the guidance of the Federal Drug Administration and, you know, science. Now the American Academy of Pediatrics is backing up the FDA and advising doctors to prescribe Plan B in advance until the policy changes.

Via ThinkProgress:

The pediatricians’ group points out that requiring young women to contact a physician for a prescription only after they realize they need emergency contraception presents a significant hurdle for ...

Just days after OB/GYNs called for the pill to be available over-the-counter, pediatricians are recommending that emergency contraception be more readily accessible for teens.

Last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius refused to allow EC ...
By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

You can now test for HIV at home

The Food and Drug Administration has approved OraQuick, a product that allows you to test for HIV in your own home. An over-the-counter test already existed but required you to prick your finger and send the blood sample to a lab.  But the new test allows users to take a swab from the inside of their gums and wait 20 to 40 minutes to see the results.

Dr. Robert Gallo, who headed the National Institutes of Health lab that developed the first American HIV blood test calls the news,“wonderful because it will get more people into care.” Mark Harrington, the executive director of the Treatment Action Group, (TAG), the independent AIDS research and policy think tank ...

The Food and Drug Administration has approved OraQuick, a product that allows you to test for HIV in your own home. An over-the-counter test already existed but required you to prick your finger and send ...
By Samhita • 12 years ago

The morning-after pill is not an abortion pill

That’s just some outdated medical information that is repeated on practice, but has never been scientifically proven. According to investigation by the New York Times–the morning-after pill doesn’t stop the fertilized egg from implanting but instead slows down ovulation, before the egg is even fertilized.

It turns out that the politically charged debate over morning-after pills and abortion, an increasingly sensitive issue in this election year, is probably rooted in outdated or incorrect scientific guesses about how the pills work. Because they block creation of fertilized eggs, they would not meet abortion opponents’ definition of abortion-inducing drugs. In contrast, RU-486 is an abortion pill because it destroys implanted embryos, terminating pregnancies.

The implantation idea stems from the Food and Drug Administration’s decision during ...

That’s just some outdated medical information that is repeated on practice, but has never been scientifically proven. According to investigation by the New York Times–the morning-after pill doesn’t stop the fertilized egg from implanting but instead ...

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