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New Mexico Allows for Over the Counter Morning-After Pill
Aired May 19, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, a controversial medical story for you. New Mexico has become the fourth state to allow women to get the so-called "morning-after" pill directly from their pharmacists without a prescription. Now, makers of the emergency contraceptive are pushing to sell the drug over the counter.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to tell us what. Now, why would the makers of this be pushing so hard for over the counter status? Just more sales?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is not so much necessarily from a sales point of view. It is the problem with the morning-after pill is that it needs to be done the morning after. So you have sex, unprotected, Friday night, what are you going to do on Saturday if your doctor doesn't have office hours, which they probably don't?
O'BRIEN: So unless it's with a doctor, you have got a problem?
COHEN: You say, honey, could you write me -- well, if all goes according to -- at least, some people's plan, this would be available in drugstores. You could just waltz into a drugstore and get the morning-after pill. An application has been a made to the Food and Drug Administration, and a decision is expected within the next nine months.
Let's talk a bit about how the morning-after pill actually works. It has to be taken within 72 hours of having unprotected intercourse and it is best if it is taken, actually, within 24 hours. It's two tablets. One is taken as soon as possible, and then the other is 12 hours later. It is 89 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. The two pills together would cost somewhere between $20 and $30, and already about 3 million doses have been prescribed by doctors since 1999 when it was approved by the FDA. And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say that they support this, they support this being available over the counter, and the Alan Guttmacher Institute says that about 51,000 abortions are prevented each year because of emergency contraception.
O'BRIEN: How does the pill work?
COHEN: It works -- and in some ways, they're not completely sure, but they think that it works in one of three ways. Either it prevents a woman from ovulating in the first place, or it prevents the sperm from actually meeting up with the egg, or if that has already happened, it prevents that from actually implanting in a woman's uterus. So there is one of three ways, probably, that it works. O'BRIEN: And there are a lot of people out there who would prefer this not be sold over the counter.
COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, some people would consider it an abortion. I mean, if it prevents a fertilized egg from implanting inside a woman, some people would consider that an abortion.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 19, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, a controversial medical story for you. New Mexico has become the fourth state to allow women to get the so-called "morning-after" pill directly from their pharmacists without a prescription. Now, makers of the emergency contraceptive are pushing to sell the drug over the counter.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to tell us what. Now, why would the makers of this be pushing so hard for over the counter status? Just more sales?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is not so much necessarily from a sales point of view. It is the problem with the morning-after pill is that it needs to be done the morning after. So you have sex, unprotected, Friday night, what are you going to do on Saturday if your doctor doesn't have office hours, which they probably don't?
O'BRIEN: So unless it's with a doctor, you have got a problem?
COHEN: You say, honey, could you write me -- well, if all goes according to -- at least, some people's plan, this would be available in drugstores. You could just waltz into a drugstore and get the morning-after pill. An application has been a made to the Food and Drug Administration, and a decision is expected within the next nine months.
Let's talk a bit about how the morning-after pill actually works. It has to be taken within 72 hours of having unprotected intercourse and it is best if it is taken, actually, within 24 hours. It's two tablets. One is taken as soon as possible, and then the other is 12 hours later. It is 89 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. The two pills together would cost somewhere between $20 and $30, and already about 3 million doses have been prescribed by doctors since 1999 when it was approved by the FDA. And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say that they support this, they support this being available over the counter, and the Alan Guttmacher Institute says that about 51,000 abortions are prevented each year because of emergency contraception.
O'BRIEN: How does the pill work?
COHEN: It works -- and in some ways, they're not completely sure, but they think that it works in one of three ways. Either it prevents a woman from ovulating in the first place, or it prevents the sperm from actually meeting up with the egg, or if that has already happened, it prevents that from actually implanting in a woman's uterus. So there is one of three ways, probably, that it works. O'BRIEN: And there are a lot of people out there who would prefer this not be sold over the counter.
COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, some people would consider it an abortion. I mean, if it prevents a fertilized egg from implanting inside a woman, some people would consider that an abortion.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
