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FDA advisers unanimously back over-the-counter birth control pill

Panellists say that making the contraceptive available in the United States without a prescription will benefit women’s health.
  1. Mariana Lenharo
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An advisory committee for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unanimously endorsed the agency making an oral contraceptive available over the counter. If the FDA follows this advice, the medication, sold under the name Opill, will be the first birth-control pill available without prescription in the United States. A final decision by the agency is expected in the coming months.

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Nature 617, 448 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01580-2

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 11 May 2023: An earlier version of this story said that Opill’s maker filed an application for switching the drug to over-the-counter use in July 2022. It was June 2022.

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