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FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

fda.gov

101–110 of 395 posts

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#101
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly. This describes every over-the-counter drug that has ever been sold. Keeping contraception prescription-only has always been about politics.

How do you think the two are equivalent? Hormone medications can have a profound impact on a person across the spectrum from mental to physical health. Secondly, taking BC wrong may lead to a false sense of security and subsequent unwanted pregnancies. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a, smallish, correlated increase in STDs, as well. Neither of those are a thing someone buying tylenol has to worry about. Disinge…

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Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#102

> The contraceptive efficacy of norgestrel was established with the original approval for prescription use in 1973. HRA Pharma applied to switch norgestrel from a prescription to an over-the-counter product. For approval of a product for use in the nonprescription setting, the FDA requires that the applicant demonstrate that the product can be used by consumers safely and effectively, relying only on the nonprescript…

The same people who hate and politicize abortion also usually hate and politicize contraceptives. I don't know if that had an impact in the choice to seek approval or not, but I wouldn't be surprised. If it looks like Trump might win the electoral college and the Dems might lose Congress, it might not be the worst thing to have stocked up on.

The contingent of people who want abortion restrictions and those who want to ban daily preventative contraception is incredibly minimal. There is no serious mainstream movement whatsoever to ban this type of medicine.

This type of hyperbolic proselytizing has no place in reasoned discussion.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, ~40% of children born into poverty remain in poverty [1], and it costs $310k per child from 0-18 (excluding daycare and college costs) [2]. Broadly accessible reproductive healthcare is about as impactful as vaccines from a value delivered for the cost perspective. You want to avoid as many both unintended and unwanted pregnancies as possible (which ["unintended"] stands at about half of all US [3] and global […

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Helping poor people who do not WANT kids not HAVE kids is not Eugenics but rather their basic human rights in a world that invented birth control.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#104
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which states have deemed it illegal?

None yet, but you have to have your head buried in the sand to think that at least a few won't make it illegal in the next decade.

Is this not a slippery slope fallacy?

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#105
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, because it's relying on the cultural knowledge that has been built up over the years through things like health classes and society talking more openly to share knowledge. And people really don't understand all the potential risks for most medications they're on, whether Rx or OTC.

Couldn't be that doctors wanted all those easy well visits writing scripts for birth control and the recent supreme court ruling encouraged the FDA to finally be reasonable? It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily".

Some people react very badly to hormonal contraceptives, to the degree that it makes a lot of sense to have them actively prescribed so the GP can watch for (or at least warn to watch for) side-effects.

I know people who can't take them because they make them suicidal, of the "spontaneously walking into fast-moving traffic" sort. I don't know if that would happen with this type specifically, but there are reasons to be cautious.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#106
post #82

Hmm idk. My anecdata of one wife had a really bad time with oral contraceptives. I feel like behavioral side effects are pretty insidious. She got pretty bad anger problems that would only appear to manifest with those she was very close to (and 95% of the time was me). It was difficult to convince her that her emotions were being selectively biased. Which is a bit of a causality minefield to get into. I worry that m…

Women talk about this a lot, you probably just don't have the sort of relationship where it would come up with very many women besides your wife.

Most women I've spoken to about it have had bad experiences with at least one hormonal birth control, especially in mood, appetite, sex drive, energy levels, depression & anxiety, fitness, bleeding. The range of things hormones can affect is wide and sometimes subtle. There are dozens of different formulations and a lot of women are very particular about the one they take, having found one with tolerable side effects.

IUDs have a similar range of experiences too, though they're less popular so I hear less about them.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes there is a lot of gatekeeping happening across the board. From my wife's experience living just outside of Portland Oregon: - Prescription has been cancelled twice for no real reason. - Pharmacists have refused to give more than one month at a time more than once. - Even if everyone is on board and not hostile she's only able to get a few months at a time so she has to do this multiple times a year. I can't imagi…

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Well, yes, that's the point. They don't want kids at this time, though.

Stopping contraceptives when you want kids isn't a eureka moment for most couples.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#108
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there really any gatekeeping going on for this in the first place? Seems more like just about everyone who asks recieves it.

Yes there is a lot of gatekeeping happening across the board. From my wife's experience living just outside of Portland Oregon: - Prescription has been cancelled twice for no real reason. - Pharmacists have refused to give more than one month at a time more than once. - Even if everyone is on board and not hostile she's only able to get a few months at a time so she has to do this multiple times a year. I can't imagi…

The one month at a time thing is coming from insurance companies not the pharmacy.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's time for the FDA to just do quality checks but otherwise screw off. I'm tired of having to order 100% safe drugs from Indian pharmacies. No question they are colluding with Big Pharma. Is there any reason the "Farmacia" model of Latin American countries, where you go in and pay per-pill for whatever you want wouldn't work here?

The plant in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state produced eyedrops that have been linked to 68 bacterial infections in the U.S., including three deaths and eight cases of vision loss. Four people have had their eyeballs surgically removed due to infection. The drops were recalled in February by two U.S. distributors, EzriCare and Delsam Phama. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fda-finds-sterility-issu...

There have been comments on previous discussions here that indicate the safety culture in Indian drug manufacturing is shockingly bad.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#110
post #75

This is great, now it can easily be shipped across state lines and given to women that can't access it because the state deemed it illegal

Which states have deemed it illegal?

Some state lawmakers have publicly targeted that after abortion, hoping to use it as the lever to get the Supreme Court to toss Griswold the way they did Roe with Dobbs.

Additionally, some state abortion bans have been interpreted as impacting birth control, causing access disruptions (this happened in Idaho with their trigger ban, but clarifying language was passed after the impact began being felt.)

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