Judge Removes Age-Specific Prescription Requirement For Morning-After Pill

A federal judge ruled Friday to allow a person of any age to purchase the morning-after pill Plan B One-Step, or its generic versions, without a prescription.

As the law currently states, any individual under the age of 17 is required to provide a prescription for the drug, a restriction Judge Edward R. Korman called "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable," according to The New York Times.

"More than 12 years have passed since the citizen petition was filed and 8 years since this lawsuit commenced," the judge wrote. "The FDA has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition. Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster."

The ruling comes less than two years after Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the prescription requirement for all ages.

"The plaintiffs should not be forced to endure, nor should the agency's misconduct be rewarded by, an exercise that permits the FDA to engage in further delay and obstruction," Korman continued.

Neither the FDA nor the HHS have issued a public response execpt to say that the decision, issued in the Eastern District of New York, is under review.

Other organizations that have publically stated support for removing the age-specific prescription requirement include the American Medical Association, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

According to the drug's website, Plan B One-Step can be taken within 72 hours of intercourse though is less effective the longer a woman waits. What's more, the site specifies that the pill is not RU-486, also known as the abortion pill, and works in a way similar to regular birth control to prevent a pregnancy rather than terminate it.