Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

fda.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 395 posts

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#91

Post by [deleted] »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #81
willcipriano wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

> It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily". Contraceptives have a long-standing problem of people being unable or unwilling to follow the instructions, or not catching little nuances like "this pill lasts for 22 hours, so you really need to take it every day at the same time ". For a decent-looking summary, see ex. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…

[deleted]

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#92

Post by keenmaster »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #81
willcipriano wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

> It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily". Contraceptives have a long-standing problem of people being unable or unwilling to follow the instructions, or not catching little nuances like "this pill lasts for 22 hours, so you really need to take it every day at the same time ". For a decent-looking summary, see ex. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…

Empirically, how much does visiting a doctor change people’s understanding of “once daily”? Measured in percentage terms. Because that’s the important question here.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#93

Post by giantg2 »

odyssey7 wrote: post #38
candiddevmike wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are non hormonal options out there like IUDs (and condoms) that may be a better option though. Speaking as a parent, I would rather have my kids come talk to me /my wife about this stuff and work with us and a doctor to figure out what's best for them long term. I recognize not every kid has that kind of relationship with their parents and would benefit from purchasing it directly.

As much as this is coming from a good place with good intentions, some things are human rights[1] that parents shouldn’t be able to withhold. [1] https://theweek.com/articles/470330/birth-control-human-righ...

That doesn't contradict what the parent is saying. Having access to non-hormonal options still fulfills the UN stance.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#94

Post by refurb »

huthuthike wrote: post #17
willcipriano wrote: post #6

> 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…

More like no one bothered to apply to make it OTC until a year ago. In the US there is more money to be made from selling prescription medication.

Actually, profits are higher for OTC. Check out the cost of a prescription for say esomeprazole versus what Costco sells it for.

Price competition across pharmacies is far higher (due to low insurance reimbursement) than cash paying patients.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#95

Post by ericmay »

sugarpile wrote: post #34
runako wrote: 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…

Let's get big government nanny state out of the way here. People can make their own decisions. It's not like you can't consult with a physician when taking contraceptives over the counter anyway.

Everything you said here you can apply to other behaviors, ranging from alcohol/marijuana consumption, to eating fast food, to skydiving.

OTC here is a result of politics specifically because access is being restricted or in the midst of being restricted. The reason this wasn't OTC was because there just wasn't a need to bother with it. Now there is.

> I wouldn't be surprised if there was a, smallish, correlated increase in STDs, as well.

This is really unsubstantiated and it would be nice if you didn't say things like this in the context of this conversation here unless you're going to provide a legitimate source. Even then if this were true I'm going to guess that an infinitesimal and unsubstantiated risk of higher STD rates is nothing compared to unwanted pregnancies from a public health standpoint.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#96

Post by devmunchies »

LostLocalMan wrote: post #46
giantg2 wrote: 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…

[flagged]

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#97

Post by pevey »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #81
willcipriano wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

> It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily". Contraceptives have a long-standing problem of people being unable or unwilling to follow the instructions, or not catching little nuances like "this pill lasts for 22 hours, so you really need to take it every day at the same time ". For a decent-looking summary, see ex. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…

How does the pill being prescribed by a doctor help this? Do you think doctors are actually explaining this to patients? They are not. They don't have time. The PE firms who own them won't let them take the time.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#98

Post by runako »

sugarpile wrote: post #34
runako wrote: 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…

> Secondly, taking BC wrong may lead to a false sense of security and subsequent unwanted pregnancies.

This is the political angle I mentioned. You're suggesting that easier access to birth control will result in more unwanted pregnancies than limiting access to birth control. It's so silly it doesn't really warrant a response, but I did want to highlight that logic this flimsy typically only serves political positions.

Also...it's not in FDA's remit to regulate the number of pregnancies in the US. This is really reaching.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#99

Post by raybb »

NateEag wrote: post #76

This reminded me to look up Vasalgel again (a single-application, non-hormonal, long-lasting, reversible male contraceptive that is unfortunately not yet commercially available), and I see that it seems to have taken a meaningful step forward: https://www.parsemus.org/humanhealth/male-contraceptive-rese... Apparently a company's moving forward with an attempt to productize it: https://www.planaformen.com/ With an opt…

Thanks for sharing about this. Looks like they're hoping for a wide market release in 2026.

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2023/04/11/viable-male-birth-con...

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#100

Post by thebooktocome »

jncfhnb wrote: 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…

[flagged]
Post reply on HN