Plan B approval reportedly near

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration will approve an application, possibly today, that would make the long-debated emergency contraceptive Plan B available without a prescription to women 18 and older, according to sources long involved with the issue.

While Barr Laboratories, the maker of Plan B, said that it had not received any formal notification about its application, the sources said they had been told that a decision to expand usage of the drug, commonly known as the “morning-after pill,” is imminent. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the strict FDA rules about releasing information regarding drug approvals or rejections.

Many social conservatives in and out of Congress have battled to keep the drug from becoming available without a prescription. Some say that it could encourage promiscuity, and others say use of the pill causes a very early abortion. Their position had for almost three years trumped an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that the drug could be safety dispensed by a pharmacist without a prescription.

The expected approval would come a year after former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford created a firestorm by ruling that the agency did not have the authority to approve a drug for over-the-counter use in women while requiring prescriptions for girls. But in recent weeks, President Bush and acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach signaled that they are willing to back off from that position and allow the drug to be available as Barr – and many women’s health advocates – have long advocated.

An approval would also open the way for von Eschenbach to be confirmed as permanent FDA commissioner. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., put a hold on the nomination last year because of what they said was the agency’s refusal to make a decision about the drug. They accused the administration of politicizing science regarding Plan B by not accepting the recommendations of an expert advisory panel and the FDA’s own scientific staff.

While the FDA concluded that the pill works like a traditional contraceptive – preventing an egg from becoming fertilized – it has not ruled out the possibility that it can also prevent a pregnancy by keeping a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus. That possibility has led some social conservatives to liken emergency contraception to abortion.

Plan B was approved for prescription use in 1999. Since 2003, the Women’s Capital Corp. and Barr, which later acquired rights to Plan B, have sought to sell it over the counter.