Jihad Report Part II

....so if they can't kill you, they at least want to make sure you're barefoot, pregnant, and out of the job market so you won't compete with them. From The Center For American Progress:

FDA PLAYING POLITICS WITH 'PLAN B': Internal documents made public by Rep. Harry Waxman (D-CA) yesterday have raised new questions about the Bush administration's refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive known as "Plan B." The documents show that, in February 2004, policymakers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found no problem allowing the so-called morning-after pill to be sold without a prescription to women of all ages. Yet 18 months later, former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford cited concerns about selling the drug to younger teens

Well that's nice......we can't go around selling drugs to teens that might hurt them. It's good that the FDA goes the extra mile to protect our nations youth.

Except that they don't. Here's a bit from the official prescribing info from Paxil, an antidepressant prescribed almost 14 million times last year:

Suicidality in Children and Adolescents

Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in short-term studies in children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of PAXIL or any other antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the clinical need. Patients who are started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber. PAXIL is not approved for use in pediatric patients.

Consumer groups had to fight the FDA like hell to get that warning put in the prescribing info. The best studies seem to point to a tripling of the risk of suicide in adolescents taking paxil and other drugs in its class (known as SSRI inhibitors), and here's the kicker, they show no noticeable antidepressant effect in this group. Yet there's nothing stopping any doctor in the country from putting your maladjusted 14 year old kid (and what 14 year old kid *isn't* maladjusted?) on some Paxil and never mentioning any of this to you.....

Oh...and there's no evidence that the morning after pill has a greater side effect profile in women under 18 than adults. None.


And if they were telling the truth.....that the reason they won't put Plan B over the counter is this great concern that younger women might get this med that hasn't been shown to be safe for them (even though it has)....I would direct their attention to any of the OVER THE COUNTER nicotine replacement products on the market. Send your kid into the store to buy one of them. It won't happen, since they're kept behind the counter to keep people under 18 from them. So the infastructure to keep OTC meds from kids is already in place. (Why we want children under 18 to keep smoking is beyond me, but that's for another post)

So there you have it. Right wing America, full of shit.