[News-releases] FDA Commissioner Plays Politics With Women's Lives

Title: [News-releases]FDA Commissioner Plays Politics With Women's Lives

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE            CONTACT: LISA BENNETT
FEBRUARY 13, 2004                 202-628-8669, ext. 123

FDA COMMISSIONER PLAYS POLITICS WITH WOMEN'S LIVES
Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

In a transparently political move, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Commissioner Mark McClellan has delayed the approval of Plan B emergency
contraception for over-the-counter use. Despite the overwhelming 24-3
vote of two FDA advisory panels in favor of making the "morning after"
pill available without prescription, McClellan extended the imminent Feb.
20 deadline by an additional 90 days.

Reports have revealed that McClellan is under consideration by President
Bush for a prestigious post heading up the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services. Could it be that McClellan wants to avoid making any
potentially controversial decisions before his appointment is confirmed?
And if McClellan avoids making this decision before he moves to the
Medicare agency, how much longer might the approval of emergency
contraception be delayed? It took Bush two years to fill the FDA post
last time.

Meanwhile, women cannot purchase this important and often live-saving
treatment without a doctor's prescription. As we saw from a highly
publicized incident in Denton, Texas, access is often denied even with a
prescription. As its name suggests, this drug is about responding to
emergencies?emergencies that are a result of unwanted sex or contraceptive
failure. Once a woman is raped, or a condom breaks, the clock begins
ticking. Emergency contraception works best up to 72 hours after
unprotected sex. However, many hospitals do not provide emergency
contraception, even to rape victims. And making an appointment with a
doctor to obtain a timely prescription can be next to impossible for many
women.

On Dec. 16, the FDA panel heard compelling testimony from NOW and our
allies, and from young women themselves, about the critical need for wider
access to emergency contraception. The answer is clear: Plan B is safe,
effective, easy to use, and could prevent thousands of unwanted
pregnancies.

How many more women will become pregnant while the FDA plays politics with
their lives? The women who will benefit most from the availability of
emergency contraception are rape survivors, young women, low-income women
and rural, isolated women. These women deserve better from the government
agency charged with overseeing drugs that can benefit their reproductive
health. This is just one more reason why NOW and hundreds of thousands of
women's rights supporters will converge on Washington, D.C., on April 25
to March for Women's Lives.

###

Gandy is available for further comment. To schedule an interview,
please contact NOW's Media Relations Office at 202-628-8669, ext. 123.
Lisa Bennett
Communications Director
NOW
733 15th St., NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
e-mail: communications@now.org
http://www.now.org/press/02-04/02-13.html