The Lancet calls on US to allow access to EC

The Lancet is calling on the FDA to dismiss political pressure and allow emergency contraception to be sold without a prescription.

The Lancet is a leading international medical journal that is published in London.

In its May 20 edition, The Lancet said acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach must make an independent decision on Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc's bid to sell its Plan B drug -- also known as a "morning after pill" -- over-the-counter, especially if he is to lead the agency on a permanent basis.

Editors at the Lancet said von Eschenbach's "failure to act indicates he may not be independent enough to run the FDA".

Like all the other Decider's appointees.

"His failure to issue a decision undermines both his credibility and that of the agency. Von Eschenbach should move quickly to approve Plan B to show he has the independence needed to be an effective leader of the FDA," the editorial said.

To be clear: the credibility of the agency is extinct!
It has been infected, infiltrated and compromised.
It has been bought.
It has been in King George's pocket since he began his term.

"The agency is stalling, apparently to avoid offending antiabortion supporters of President Bush, who claim that the contraceptive is an abortifacient," it added.

Which EC isn't, regardless of all the evidence, evidence, evidence to prove otherwise.

Opponents not only claim EC is abortion, but also that access to EC encourages promiscuity (whatev).

The most insightful piece of the article is when The Lancet rightfully reminds the FDA how to properly run its own organization:

"The FDA must be led by a commissioner willing to take independent stands, following the best judgment of his expert staff and scientific advisers, even when that means incurring the wrath of patients' groups, industry, Congress and the White House," the Lancet said.

Exactly. We need our FDA to do its job, without bending over and taking it in the ass from The Reich Goons, King George or any other zealot trying to run this country.

We’re still waiting, FDA....

"If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child."
-Justice Brennen, Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438

1,927 days, 17 hours, and 7 minutes...that is how long women have been waiting.