Plan B could go over-the-counter
The manufacturer of the morning-after pill resubmitted an application Friday seeking federal approval to sell the emergency contraceptive without a prescription.
The Food and Drug Administration had asked Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. to amend its application to limit over-the-counter sales of the pills, called Plan B, to women 18 and older. The pills are now sold only by prescription in most states.
“Currently, we remain committed to an expeditious review,” FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said. Bro would not say when the FDA would decide on the application.
Barr originally applied to sell the pills to girls and women of all ages, but later amended its application to limit over-the-counter sales to those 16 and older.
The FDA said last month it would reconsider that application if the company further amended it to limit nonprescription sales to adult women.
Newark, N.J.
Man indicted for child sex assaults
A self-employed contractor was indicted Friday on hundreds of child sex assault and child pornography counts after authorities said he spent years molesting children and recording them while he worked at their homes.
Clement Bilski Jr., 43, is accused of preying on at least 11 girls and boys, the oldest just 8 years old, between 1998 and 2005.
“The depravity in this case has no boundaries,” Monmouth Prosecutor Luis Valentin said.
Working as a carpenter and handyman, Bilski abused the children in their own homes, often while caretakers were elsewhere in the houses, then offered them toys and candy to stay quiet, Valentin said.
He used ropes and handcuffs to detain children, videotaped himself abusing them and showed pornographic photos and videos to at least two of them, the prosecutor said.
Bilski was charged in the grand jury indictment with 74 counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, 30 counts of second-degree aggravated sexual assault and 295 counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child by the manufacture of child pornography.
Oklahoma City
Commandments display can stay
A federal judge on Friday said a Ten Commandments monument outside a courthouse can stay, rejecting arguments that it promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.
The county argued that the monument outside the Stigler courthouse was part of a historical display that included other monuments recognizing war veterans, the Choctaw Tribe and others. The Ten Commandments monument has the Mayflower Compact etched on the other side.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious displays on government property are not inherently unconstitutional and must be considered on a case-by-case basis.