Federal District Court Judge,Edward R. Korman ruled Friday, April 5 that the government must make the morning-after pill Plan B One-Step, and its generic versions available over the counter for all ages, as a substitute of requiring the current standard of a prescription for girls 16 and younger.
This decision counteracts the unprecedented move by the Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, who in 2011 overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration to make the pill available for all ages without a prescription.
In Judge Korman’s ruling, he also accused the federal government of “bad faith” in dealing with the requests to make the pill collectively available.
Judge Korman ruled that the government’s refusal to bring to an end restrictions on access to the pill was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”
Judge Korman ordered the F.D.A. to lift any age and sale restrictions on the pill, Plan B One-Step, and its generic versions, within 30 days.
“More than 12 years have passed since the citizen petition was filed and 8 years since this lawsuit commenced,” Judge Korman wrote. “The F.D.A. has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition. Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster.”
He added, “The plaintiffs should not be forced to endure, nor should the agency’s misconduct be rewarded by, an exercise that permits the F.D.A. to engage in further delay and obstruction.”
The F.D.A. and the Department of Health and Human Services both declined to comment on Friday’s ruling or indicate whether an appeal would be filed.
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