5-day 'morning after' pill gets FDA advisers' approval

CNN) -- An advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the green light Thursday to an emergency contraceptive for use up to five days after sex.

The Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs voted unanimously to recommend the drug, called ella.

The pill is intended for women who have had unprotected sex or for whom another method of contraception, such as a condom, failed.

Currently, there are no emergency contraception drugs available in the United States for use more than 72 hours after unprotected intercourse or failed contraception. The options available now -- Plan B, Plan B One Step and generic versions -- are available without a prescription to women 17 and older.

Two phase 3 clinical trials demonstrated that ella is effective and safe. One of the trials was done with women 18 and older in the United States; the other included women 16 and older in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Read the rest of the story here.

So, I'm a bit torn by this.

Not because I think the product is wrong, I just don't trust the FDA or big pharma to do anyting that doesn't poison us further.

Especially young women, I mean they were doing testing on 16 year olds.

I mean come on, use a condom for god sakes. It's not that complicated.

Although I can agree that this would be a good product in the case of rapes where the women delayed treatment or something of that nature.

I don't know, I'm torn. Can I get a woman's perpsective please?

~Keeper

I think it should be by prescription, and not readily available. I worked with a clinic that handed this out, you saw the same girls show up all the time. Which means they are having un-protected sex. Someone needs to be able to say to these young ladies: you are risking your life.

Teens are dumb, even the 18-21 ones.

But on the other hand, young adult pregnancies are risky too.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
I think it should be by prescription, and not readily available. I worked with a clinic that handed this out, you saw the same girls show up all the time. Which means they are having un-protected sex. Someone needs to be able to say to these young ladies: you are risking your life.

Teens are dumb, even the 18-21 ones.

But on the other hand, young adult pregnancies are risky too.

I agree, I would venture to say that in this day and age most people are dumb when it comes to sex.

Let's be honest here, the only safe sex is no sex.

I just think there is too much trust put into these drugs that come with a million side effects.

~Keeper

If it's safe, which we are taking the FDA's word for, it's not a bad thing to have in the arsenal for the appropriate reasons and uses. As with all weapons in an arsenal though, sure there will be those who abuse it. There are people who find a way to abuse everything...it's not a perfect world. But that doesn't mean we should take or keep it away from everyone. I think I'd probably lean on the side of keeping it a prescription med though. That would limit the abuse.

Great news for single guys with active social lives.

mean come on, use a condom for god sakes

Condoms break.

This product is designed to be used when that happens. Or in the case of of sexual assault. It should be a private matter, readily available.

I can understand the apprehension, is it safe? We all know how many times BigPharma has screwed up and rushed things through.

I do not think it should be by prescription only, no method of birth control should. For some women this could be an intensely personal decision she does not even wish to share with her doctor.

It's misuse is caused by the lack of education. If someone uses it multiple times then they clearly do not understand some basic facts of life.

This leads me naturally to sex education, sadly, a lot of parents do NOT educate their children correctly. For the good of society, the educational establishment should be teaching our young people the basics of biology up to and including full information on birth control.

Abstinence may be the safest, most reliable form of birth control, but it is definitely not realistic.

Would I use it? Probably, yes.