美国国家公共电台 NPR--The FDA considers first birth control pill without a prescription

The FDA considers first birth control pill without a prescription¹

Transcript²

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing women to get birth control pills in the U.S. without a prescription.

"It's a very exciting historic moment for contraceptive access," says Kelly Blanchard, who heads Ibis Reproductive Health, a nonprofit research group.

On Tuesday, the agency is convening³ a two-day meeting of independent advisers⁴ to help it decide what to do. The FDA advisers will sift⁵ through the scientific evidence and make a recommendation to the agency, which is expected to make a final decision by the end of the summer.

Eliminating prescriptions⁶ would ease access

Birth control pills have a long track record. But in the U.S. women have always had to get a prescription first to get them, which can make it hard for many women, Blanchard says.

"It could be someone doesn't have a health care provider," Blanchard says. "It could be the time it would take to get an appointment, the cost to get to that appointment, taking time off work, organizing child care. All of those things really add up."

Allowing women of any age to just walk into their any drug store to buy pills off the shelf could make a huge difference, especially for less affluent⁷ women, she says.

The request is for a pill that would be sold by Perrigo under the brand name Opill, a so-called progestin-only pill that only contains a synthetic⁸ version of the hormone⁹ progesterone to prevent pregnancy¹⁰. Most pills also contain estrogen.

Major medical groups, such as the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, are backing the request.

But groups like the Catholic Medical Association are opposed, and not just on religious grounds.

In addition to questioning the safety of making a birth control available without a prescription, that group argues that easier access would help sex traffickers and that skipping the requirement to see a doctor would harm women's health in other ways.

"It eliminates the need to see a physician for young ladies to see a physician for the prescription," says Dr. Timothy Millea, who head's the association's health care policy committee. "That will eliminate the screenings for ovarian cancer, for cervical cancer, for sexually transmitted infections."

The FDA asks questions

An FDA assessment¹¹ also raised questions about taking a health professional out the equation. FDA scientists questioned whether women would take the pill every day at the same time, as they're supposed to, and whether women who shouldn't take the pill because of certain health problems would know that.

But proponents¹² dismiss those concerns, arguing there's plenty of evidence that women can easily handle it. Pills are available without a prescription in more than 100 other countries.

"We think the evidence is quite clear," says Dr. Jack¹³ Resneck Jr., the AMA's president. "First of all, oral contraceptives have been used safely by millions of women in the United States and around the world since the 1960s."

Moreover, while regular exams are important, "they're not necessary prior to initiating¹⁴ or refiling an oral contraceptive," Resneck says.

Resneck and others add that easy access to effective birth control has never been more important, given that access to abortion¹⁵ is increasingly being restricted in this country.

"Reproductive rights are under attack," says Dr. Daniel Grossman, who studies reproductive health issues at the University of California, San Francisco. "Certainly in places where abortion access have become more restricted, it's critical that people have access to all the the possible tools to prevent an unwanted pregnancy."

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 convening   

召开( convene的现在分词 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without sounding an alarm. 民10:7但招聚会众的时候、们要吹号、不要吹出大声。
• We warmly welcome the convening of Asia-Europe meeting in London. 热烈欢迎亚欧会议在伦敦召开。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

6 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

7 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

8 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

9 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

10 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

11 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

12 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 initiating   

v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员

参考例句：

• He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything. 他善于创建项目，但难得坚持完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only the perchlorate shows marked sensitiveness and possibly initiating properties. 只有高氯酸盐表现有显著的感度和可能具有起爆性能。 来自辞典例句

15 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。