United States | The first pharmaceutical company applies for permission to sell birth control pills over the counter in the United States, the timing “a very sad coincidence”

The first ones hormonal birth control pills went on sale in the US in 1960. Now, more than 60 years later, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received the first application for over-the-counter sales of e-pills when The pharmaceutical company HRA Pharma applied self-medication status for their minipills.

The application concerns the Opill mini-pill, which was approved by the FDA for prescription sale in 1973. The mini-pills are birth control pills containing only luteinizing hormone.

Director of strategy and innovation at HRA Pharma Frederique Welgry called the historic filing “a milestone in contraceptive access and reproductive rights equality in the United States.” Although millions of American women have used birth control pills over the past few decades, many report that they still faced difficulties in obtaining a prescription.

A study published in 2016 According to

Application coincides with a sensitive time. Just a couple of weeks earlier Yoverturned by the US Supreme Court the broad right to abortion that had been protected by the constitution for almost 50 years.

After the decision, the demand for different contraceptive methods increased in the United States. In addition, some feared that the Supreme Court could also interfere with the right to contraception in the future. The judge of the Supreme Court, for example, gave cause for fear Clarence Thomas statement about itthat in the future precedents regarding contraception should also be reconsidered.

According to HRA Pharma, the company’s application has nothing to do with the Supreme Court and the right to abortion. Instead, Welgry calls the timing “a very sad coincidence.”

“Contraception is not the solution to abortion access,” he said According to The New York Times newspaper.

Birth control pills the prescription requirement is often justified by the fact that birth control pills slightly increase the risk of a serious blood clot, which is why they are not recommended for certain risk groups. However, minipills do not contain estrogen, which is usually associated with an increased risk of blood clots.

For example, in Britain it has been possible to buy mini-pills without a prescription since last summer. According to CBS In addition, HRA Pharma has collected a lot of research material in its application over the years to convince the FDA that women can identify their own susceptibility to side effects independently without a doctor.

HRA Pharma is waiting for the decision of the licensing authorities in about ten months. In addition, another company, Cadence Health, has also said that it is having discussions with the FDA about the over-the-counter sale of its birth control pill. The company hopes to be able to submit a permit application next year.

In Finland, the only contraceptive pill available without a prescription is the post-contraception pill for now.