M.D. Blasts Pediatrics Group for Calling to Lift Plan B Age Restriction
by Mary Rettig
August 30, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The associate executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says the American Academy of Pediatrics made a "ridiculous" move when it stated that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only went "halfway" in its handling of the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B. Soon after the FDA approved Plan B for over-the-counter sales, the American Academy of Pediatrics hailed the move as an important first step. However, the group said the federal agency has only gone halfway because it failed to approve making the contraceptive available OTC for teenage girls as well.
Christian physician Dr. Gene Rudd of the CMDA says he would expect the American Academy of Pediatrics to have insisted on a more scientific basis for its opinion. He feels the group is being rather rash in its remarks about the FDA, a group that has a mandate from the federal legislature to determine what is in the best interests of patients taking FDA-approved drugs.
FDA officials are "under a mandate from Congress," Rudd points out, "to only approve those drugs for minors that have been proven to be safe for minors." However, he notes, critics -- some of them members of Congress -- have called attention to the fact that "Plan B has not had anywhere close to sufficient studies showing its safety for minors."
In the highly politicized debate over Plan B, the CMDA official observes, many individuals and groups have weighed in with their disparate opinions about the safety and efficacy of the emergency contraceptive. "But whether people think it might be safe or not," he asserts, "the only way you know is to do adequate clinical trials."
Rudd feels the American Academy of Pediatrics' support for OTC sale of Plan B to anyone, regardless of age, is ridiculous and ill-advised. With reference to the drug, he contends, "It's an inferior product. It doesn't work as well as other contraceptives, but it's the one that we make most readily available over the counter."
The effect of that decision is potentially dangerous, the Christian doctor asserts. Making Plan B available over the counter to purchasers 18 and older "allows people to bypass the very healthcare system that's designed to give them the best health care," he says.
The FDA was simply following its safety protocols by requiring a prescription for minors who want to purchase Plan B, Dr. Rudd concludes. And if the American Academy of Pediatrics was truly concerned about teen girls' health, he adds, it would at the very least support the FDA's decision to make the emergency contraception available to minors by prescription only.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
