Emergency Contraception:
Over-the-Counter

More than three years after the manufacturer of Plan B filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the product was approved for sale over-the-counter in pharmacies for women and men age 18 years and older. Young women 17 and younger still need a prescription from a health care provider. A timeline of milestones from initial FDA approval of Plan B to over-the-counter approval can be found by clicking here.

Plan B was shipped to pharmacies in November 2006 but there are still many implementation issues to work out. The Ed Fund created fact sheets to answer questions consumers and pharmacists may have about the dual status of the product. In addition, we created fact sheets for pharmacists and pharmacy staff about best practices for serving adolescents and victims of sexual and/or domestic violence.

We encourage you to:

• Read them.
• Put them on your website or create a link to FPA's website.
• Email them to organizations in your professional networks.
• Make copies and share them with friends, family, consumers and pharmacists.

Fact Sheets for Consumers

Plan B is now over-the-counter! What New York consumers need to know
Click here for the fact sheet in English
Click here for the fact sheet in Spanish

Fact Sheet for New York State Pharmacists and Pharmacy Staff

Plan B – now an over the counter & prescription product

Plan B use by women who are victims of sexual and/or domestic violence

Plan B – helping teenagers prevent unintended pregnancy

FPA is continuing to work on several fronts to increase EC access for groups—such as teens, and low income and immigrant women—that face on-going challenges to obtaining Plan B in a timely way. FPA’s recent efforts include:

• Advocating for passage of the Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act to allow pharmacists to dispense Plan B to teens without a prescription.
• Ensuring that Medicaid covers the over-the-counter product and sufficient refills.
• Working on other regulatory issues to make implementation of this dual-status product as smooth as possible.