WILL THE FDA FREE THE PILL?

• Author: Brown, Elizabeth Nolan
• Position: SCIENCE

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS will finally be available over the counter in the United States if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a recent request from the French drug company HRA Pharma.

Oral contraceptives can be purchased without a prescription in many countries. But in the United States, women who use birth control pills typically must get a doctor's permission, which requires an annual visit.

"Research has documented that the prescription requirement is a barrier for many people," Victoria Nichols, project director of the Free the Pill campaign, said in July, after HRA Pharma asked the FDA to allow overthe-counter sales of Opill, its daily hormonal contraceptive. That barrier, Nichols noted, "can push birth control out of reach because it means a potentially costly health care provider's visit, taking time off school or work to get to the appointment, and more."

In recent years, a few states have made getting oral contraceptives easier by authorizing pharmacists to prescribe and dispense them on the spot. But nowhere in the U.S. can people purchase birth control pills with the same ease that they can buy Tylenol, antihistamines, or condoms.

It may have made sense to require a...