Teens understand emergency-contraception labels

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teenagers do just as well as adults when it comes to understanding the information on emergency-contraception labels, a new study suggests.

The findings, say researchers, argue for making emergency contraception available to minors over-the-counter, as it already is for adults.

The emergency contraceptive Plan B can prevent pregnancy if it is taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. However, the sooner it is taken, the better - after the first 12 hours the risk of pregnancy increases by 50 percent. Since 2006, adults in the U.S. have been able to get the contraceptive without a prescription.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still requires minors to get a prescription, and this delay, critics say, lowers the chances of preventing pregnancy. They also charge that the regulation has more to do with politics than health.

In the new study, of more than 1,000 girls 12- to 17-year-old, researchers found that most understood the information on the emergency-contraception labeling. And their level of comprehension was comparable to that of adults reported in a similar study conducted in 2002, the researchers report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"I believe the potential implications of our study are to help the FDA decide to make Plan B available over-the-counter without an age restriction," lead researcher Dr. Miriam Cremer, of New York University School of Medicine, told Reuters Health.

Last week, a federal court ordered the FDA to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B to 17-year-olds, and to consider expanding access to all ages.

Plan B contains the hormone progestin, which prevents pregnancy primarily by stopping the ovaries from releasing an egg. Pills must be taken with 72 hours of unprotected sex, ideally, within 12 hours.