Someone want to explain why the morning-after pill is only available by perscription?

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: jcovercash
Probally also so every little 14 y/o that gets knocked up doesnt just go to cvs and get a pill to solve their problems and harm their body

Getting "knocked up" implies a pregnancy has already occured, in which case, the MAP would do nothing except make the mother sick for a few days. You're thinking about RU486 again, which the MAP is not.

 

[Agnostos Insania]

Originally posted by: johnjohn320

if you took any time to think about it, you get it before hand, that way you have it when you need it and can take it the morning after. i don't think its one of those things thats like "oh sh!t, i better go get one of these" the morning after you need it.

One of the first questions they ask you when you go to get a perscription for it is "when did the unprotected sex occur?" If you say you haven't had the sex yet, they won't perscribe it for you. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything

I don't quite understand that. If I had a girlfriend I'd have multiple safety nets to prevent a pregnancy. I could imagine a "break this glass in emergency" little window next to the bed, but it contains pills instead of a fire extinguisher. Do the pills expire rapidly, or is it just political BS again?

 

[MrToilet]

Just an FYI:

RU486 (drug name = Mifepristone) is given in conjunction with another drug (Misoprostol) to induce uterine contractions and fetal detachment. It is used often to induce abortions in the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

The "Morning After Pill" is the same drug, Mifepristone, but is taken soon (<72 hrs, ideally, as it is 100% effective) after unprotected sex, and acts by preventing fetal attachment.

And there are significant risks such as heavy, prolonged bleeding, so I'm guessing that's why it's not readily available OTC. Each state can regulate distribution.

 

[JinLien]

Depends on where you live, but here in Canada it can be purchase over the counter at the local drugs store, however it is twice the price of a prescription one.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: MrToilet
Just an FYI:

RU486 (drug name = Mifepristone) is given in conjunction with another drug (Misoprostol) to induce uterine contractions and fetal detachment. It is used often to induce abortions in the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

The "Morning After Pill" is the same drug, Mifepristone, but is taken soon (<72 hrs, ideally, as it is 100% effective) after unprotected sex, and acts by preventing fetal attachment.

And there are significant risks such as heavy, prolonged bleeding, so I'm guessing that's why it's not readily available OTC. Each state can regulate distribution.

Ah ha! I, too, have more to learn on the subject. I'm no pharmacist nor doctor, and I have no aspirations to be one, but the debate obviously intrigues me.

I do, however, stand by my point that the MAP alone is not there to induce a chemical abortion, only to prevent pregnancy for up to 72 hours after sex in which regular birth control may have failed. (Or was not used.)

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: MrToilet
Just an FYI:

RU486 (drug name = Mifepristone) is given in conjunction with another drug (Misoprostol) to induce uterine contractions and fetal detachment. It is used often to induce abortions in the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

The "Morning After Pill" is the same drug, Mifepristone, but is taken soon (<72 hrs, ideally, as it is 100% effective) after unprotected sex, and acts by preventing fetal attachment.

And there are significant risks such as heavy, prolonged bleeding, so I'm guessing that's why it's not readily available OTC. Each state can regulate distribution.

Just an FYI, but you're wrong. Mifepristone blocks the hormone (progesterone) that maintains pregnancy, thus allow an abortion to be completed.

Emergency contraception inhibits follicular development and maturation, inhibits impantation, or affects tubal transport of the sperm/ova. It is comprised of estrogen and progestin in the Preven plan and progestin in Plan B. Neither contain mifepristone.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: johnjohn320

Originally posted by: DAGTA

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
They are birth control pills taken in higher dose. Birth control pills are prescription, not over the counter, so is the morning after pill. Some people cannot or should not take them because of the high dose of hormones.

Yeah.

The morning-after pill is not good for you. It's rough on the body; hence why it's controlled.

Well yeah, but we trust the American people not to swallow 10 ibuprofen when they a bad headache, or chug a whole bottle of nyquil when they have a bad cold. Why don't we trust them to take only what they're supposed to of birth control pills, with the same warnings we put on every other drug out there?

Because there are side effects for some people for event the recommended dosage. Read up a bit on how it works, its not some nice magic bullet that just stops pregnancy, it does it in a way thats rough on the body. Just as some people should not take even the recommended dosage of normal birth control, so too should certain people abstain from the morning after pill for health purposes.

 

[johnjohn320]

Originally posted by: MrToilet
Just an FYI:

RU486 (drug name = Mifepristone) is given in conjunction with another drug (Misoprostol) to induce uterine contractions and fetal detachment. It is used often to induce abortions in the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

The "Morning After Pill" is the same drug, Mifepristone, but is taken soon (<72 hrs, ideally, as it is 100% effective) after unprotected sex, and acts by preventing fetal attachment.

And there are significant risks such as heavy, prolonged bleeding, so I'm guessing that's why it's not readily available OTC. Each state can regulate distribution.

Wrong. Morning after pill is generally 80-85% effective when taken within 72 hrs.

Because there are side effects for some people for event the recommended dosage

...and? Some people will have allergic reactions to OTC medicine. That's a moot point.

 

[slimrhcp]

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but the logic that it shouldn't be illegal because a person can kill them selves with tylenol or nyquil isn't a very good argument. These pills are very powerful drugs. I doubt a person would die from taking two Nyquil unless they had some sort of allergy to it. While it can be used to treat some hormonal problems, such as endometriosis, Mifepristone has killed people. It's not Right-wing, Bush-backing, Christian Fundamentalists behind requiring a prescription, it's the FDA's common sense judgement. Don't believe check their website, they were considering banning the drug at one point.

 

[johnjohn320]

Originally posted by: slimrhcp
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but the logic that it shouldn't be illegal because a person can kill them selves with tylenol or nyquil isn't a very good argument. These pills are very powerful drugs. I doubt a person would die from taking two Nyquil unless they had some sort of allergy to it. While it can be used to treat some hormonal problems, such as endometriosis, Mifepristone has killed people. It's not Right-wing, Bush-backing, Christian Fundamentalists behind requiring a prescription, it's the FDA's common sense judgement. Don't believe check their website, they were considering banning the drug at one point.

Are you actually suggesting that someone could die from taking two Plan B pills?

 

[slimrhcp]

Originally posted by: johnjohn320

Originally posted by: slimrhcp
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but the logic that it shouldn't be illegal because a person can kill them selves with tylenol or nyquil isn't a very good argument. These pills are very powerful drugs. I doubt a person would die from taking two Nyquil unless they had some sort of allergy to it. While it can be used to treat some hormonal problems, such as endometriosis, Mifepristone has killed people. It's not Right-wing, Bush-backing, Christian Fundamentalists behind requiring a prescription, it's the FDA's common sense judgement. Don't believe check their website, they were considering banning the drug at one point.

Are you actually suggesting that someone could die from taking two Plan B pills?

The morning after pill is typically a two pill dosage. I was merely comparing taking two pills of Nyquil to two pills of Mifepristone. The point is people have died from this medicine due to complications that OTC pills would not cause. For the most part the only way a person could die from taking OTC drugs is either anaphylaxis or overdose...

"This first published analysis of the FDA's mifepristone reports describes 607 adverse events reported over a 4-year period, including fatalities resulting from bleeding or septic shock."

But don't just take my word for it, go to the site yourself. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-12/aop-fao122705.php

This site is non-Christian affliated as far as I know, so I seriously doubt there's any sort of "Right-Wing Agenda" that is slanting the information.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33

Originally posted by: Czar
over the counter here... and let me tell you, my life would probably not be the same without them

Yes, but that's because you are lucky enough to live in a free country where right-wing fundamentalist evangelical Christians don't run the government.

hahahaha so true