Data on pregnancy outcomes after EC (emergency contraceptive) failure with ulipristal were too limited to draw any definitive conclusions regarding the effect of ulipristal on an established pregnancy or fetal development.” ~FDA staff scientists

Ulipristal is the scientific name of ella, French drugmaker HRA Pharma’s new morning after pill that can be taken as many as 5 days after unprotected sex. The Food and Drug Administration staff reviewed it and released their findings on it this week.

The pill has already been approved in Europe where it’s called ellaOne though in the US it’s more controversial because “morning after pills” launch us into never ending debates over abortion and ultimately the reproductive rights of women. So women’s health groups welcome the new option while critics consider it like the abortion pill RU-486.

Sidestepping that argument for a moment I couldn’t help but to notice the side effects of this pill which have much in common with the side effects of many drugs on TV now. It’s not that this pill was not found to have side effects according to the FDA findings it’s that no “unexpected” side effects were found. This pill will still likely cause reports of nausea, headache and abdominal.

My understanding is that the last pill had the same side effects but this new pill can be taken a longer period after unprotected sex which can make a huge difference. It was also stated in this reuters.com article that at times this pill doesn’t work and there is not enough data to make conclusions on what can happen is the pill doesn’t take. What?

How does this pill get to make the cut then? If you’re that one that this happens to surely you wouldn’t care about the others it did work for. I suppose one’s recourse if it doesn’t take is to get an abortion, launching us back into that debate sort of, but the woman who gets the morning after pill isn’t necessarily the woman who will get an abortion. Being left with a damaged fetus will lead to a whole other set of problems.

This pill is being touted as effective and safe and maybe for the most part it is. I’m just saying I wonder, as far as drug side effects are concerned in general, when will we get to the point where we can say the side effects are the effects of the drug? And that drug makers probably aren’t concerned with the effects on the side when they develop these drugs?

Src: reuters.com

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