Somebody Needs To Tell Women Over 176 Pounds That The Morning After Pill Doesn’t Work For Them

220A European manufacturer for a pill identical to Plan B says the pill won’t work for women over 176 pounds. Since the average American woman’s weight has climbed to 166 pounds – this is pretty devastating news.

From Mother Jones:

The European manufacturer of an emergency contraceptive pill identical to Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, will warn women that the drug is completely ineffective for women who weigh more than 176 pounds, and begins to lose effectiveness in women who weigh more than 165 pounds. HRA Pharma, the French manufacturer of the European drug, Norlevo, is changing its packaging information to reflect the weight limits. European pharmaceutical regulators approved the change on November 10, but it has not been previously reported.

“Completely ineffective” for women who weigh over 176 pounds. This has very scary implications for American women since some of the most popular emergency over-the-counter contraceptive – Plan B One-Step, Next Choice One Dose, My Way – “have a dosage and chemical make-up identical to the European drug.” And since the drug loses its effectiveness in women who weigh more than 165 pounds – it may not be a viable choice for the average American woman. The European manufacturer’s of the drug Norlevo are changing package information to reflect weight limits – but no such plan has been made for the almost identical drugs administered in this country.

Data for the years 2007 to 2010 show the average weight of American women 20 years and older is 166.2 pounds””above the weight at which emergency contraceptive pills that use levonorgestrel begin to lose their effectiveness. The average weight of non-Hispanic black women aged 20 to 39 is 186 pounds, well above the weight at which these pills are completely ineffective. A CDC surveypublished in February found that 5.8 million American women used emergency contraceptive pills from 2006 to 2010.

There’s no information regarding weight limitations for Plan B on the product’s website. Same goes for Next Choice One Dose and My Way – no mention whatsoever. If this is indeed the case – some changes need to happen immediately. Women need to be made aware of this.

Because the Food and Drug Administration prohibits generic drug manufacturers from changing product information unless the brand name manufacturer makes a change, companies that manufacture generic versions of Plan B One-Step cannot update their packaging information unless Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the exclusive manufacturer of Plan B One-Step, acts first.

Well, this is beyond disturbing. Spread the news.

(photo: Walgreens.com)

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