Hillary Clinton Is Still Right On This One
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., are still maintaining their "hold" on the confirmation of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to head up the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Why? Because they want the agency to issue a final decision one way or the other on whether or not the emergency contraceptive Plan B should be sold over-the-counter. The decision has been pending since an FDA scientific advisory panel overwhelmingly voted in favor of selling Plan B over- the-counter back in December 2003.
The senators are right–it's way past time for the FDA to make a decision. Of course, the correct decision should be that the drug should be available right next to the condom display in drugstores. As I have previously asserted, if the FDA decides against allowing Plan B to be sold over-the-counter, Eschenbach's confirmation should go down in flames.