May 07, 2004
Now Safe for Kids!
Posted by nerdling | May 7, 2004 10:55 AM
JohnKerryIsADoucheBagButImVotingForHimAnyway.com
Generally speaking, a long domain name is not a good idea, but this one works.
The FDA has turned down the application to sell Plan B (the "morning after" pill) over the counter, citing concerns over the health of young women.
Wendy Wright, senior policy director at Concerned Women for America, a conservative women's organization, said that the agency had ignored political pressure and made its decision based on science.
"The F.D.A. is right to be cautious about having a potent drug that can be harmful to women sitting next to candy bars and toothpaste," Ms. Wright said. Broad availability of Plan B would allow people to slip the medicine to women without their knowledge, Ms. Wright said.
Not only do we have to worry about roofies, now we have to worry about crazed bands of abortion-givers running amok and dropping birth control into our drinks, preventing pregnancies for couples who want children. Does she realize how completely, insanely paranoid she sounds?
Aside from that, women who are concerned about the health of the nation should be more concerned about the over-the-counter drugs that are already available. Case in point: Children's Dimetapp® ND Non-Drowsy Allergy is an OTC allergy drug targeted specifically for use by children. The active ingredient in Children's Dimetapp® ND Non-Drowsy Allergy is 10mg Loratadine—5mg more Loratadine than the same dose of Claritin-D or Children's Claritin. I don't know about anyone else, but it would seem to me that a drug marketed for children would have a lesser dose than the "adult" drug. The pharmaceutical industry is cannabalistic and deceitful—just look at the recent revelations about anti-depressants—but we're still worried about the permissive message an OTC birth control pill would send to young girls.
Call me crazy, but when I go to a rock show that I know is going to have ear-splitting sound, I don't think "I don't need to wear earplugs because I have some Advil at home and that will take care of the headache I will get from the volume." When I overindulge in alcohol, I don't start out my drinking by thinking "I have some Alka-Seltzer and Tylenol at home, so my hangover won't be that bad; I can have as much booze as I want!" The existence of a pill that can prevent pregnancy does not erase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, nor does it lessen the fear and anxiety over becoming pregnant. Even the most careful adults—with fully functioning faculties of reason—encounter the occasional broken condom. A pill like this would accomplish more good than it would harm, methinks.
In the cock-of-the-day report, Ryan Adams has closed his website down in protest of the 'death' of Friends. Let's face it, Ryan: it was a trite, formulaic exercise in media saturation that went on too long to be relevant. Then again, that sounds a lot like your career.
