5-Day Emergency Contraceptive Approved by F.D.A. for Prescription Only

NY Times: F.D.A. Approves 5-Day Emergency Contraceptive, by Gardiner Harris:

WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators on Friday approved a new form of emergency contraceptive pill that prevents pregnancies if taken as many as five days after unprotected intercourse.

The pill, called ella, will be available by prescription only. Developed in government laboratories, it is more effective than Plan B, the morning-after pill now available over the counter to women 17 and older.

That pill gradually loses efficacy and can be taken at most three days after sex. Ella, by contrast, works just as well on the fifth day as the first after sex. . . .