Oops ... Time For Plan B?

By David Bjerklie

Access to contraception can still cause a ruckus these days. But the effort to make the morning-after pill available as an over-the-counter drug is sailing along pretty smoothly. Two FDA advisory committees voted last week 28 to 4 to recommend that the pill known as Plan B be as easy to buy as condoms or cough syrup. Plan B is a high-dose oral contraceptive that prevents fertilization or the implantation of a fertilized egg within 72 hours after intercourse. (Unlike the drug RU 486, it cannot induce an abortion.) "The vote," says committee member James Trussell, director of Princeton's office of population research, "provides a very powerful signal to women that this drug is safe." Although the FDA typically follows the recommendations of its advisory panels, some political opposition could yet emerge. A final decision is expected in a matter of weeks.

--By David Bjerklie