FDA advisory panel approves ella ‘morning after’ pill, works up to 5 days after sex
An emergency contraceptive, which can be used up to five days after sex has been approved by an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although the FDA commonly takes the advisory panel’s recommendations, it has no obligation to do so.
According to CNN the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs unanimously approved the drug called ella, which is intended for women who’ve engaged in unprotected sex or for those whom some other form of contraception may have failed.
The drug, made by HRA Pharma, works by binding to progesterone receptors in body tissue and has been available in Europe for over a year under the name ellaOne.
CNN reports that 20 women’s health groups support the drug, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The organization wrote a letter to the panel backing the drug saying “We do not believe technology holds all the answers, but having two types of safe and effective emergency contraception will increase the likelihood that a woman can access a product that works for her situation.”
Nonetheless, anti-abortion groups have criticized this type of drug, calling the substance a method of obtaining an early abortion.
In clinical trials to determine the drug’s effectiveness, it was discovered that the pill was not effective in women with a body mass index over 30, however, the panel voted not to warn obese women of this fact on the product’s label.
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