Plan B Case Revived in Brooklyn Federal Court

Thomson Reuters News and Insight: Plan B legal fight revived in Brooklyn Federal Court:

NEW YORK, Dec 14 (Reuters) - A reproductive-rights group may reopen its six-year-old lawsuit over the availability of the morning-after pill, a Brooklyn federal judge has ruled, only days after last week's controversial decision by the Obama administration to prohibit the pill, known as Plan B, from being made available over-the-counter to girls younger than 17.

U.S. District Judge Edward Korman on Tuesday invited the Center for Reproductive Rights to file a motion to reopen its case against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which the center had accused of failing to respond to a 2001 petition to remove age restrictions on Plan B and its generic form. The ruling gives renewed significance to the long-standing case, which has taken a backseat to FDA rulemaking until now.

The suit, which was first filed by the center in 2005 and is not connected to Sebelius's decision, consolidated numerous challenges from women's groups and other Plan B supporters from across the country after the FDA did not act on the petition, which it eventually denied in 2006. . . .

Center for Reproductive Rights – press release: Center for Reproductive Rights Prepares New Legal Challenge to Lift FDA Restrictions on Emergency Contraception:

Center will reopen its 2005 lawsuit against FDA and add HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a defendant in the case

12.13.11 - (PRESS RELEASE) The Center for Reproductive Rights announced today it will reopen its 2005 lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for imposing unnecessary age restrictions on emergency contraceptives, and seek immediate relief to allow broader access to available drugs. The Center also plans to add U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a defendant in the reopened case for her role in overruling the FDA’s approval of Plan B One-Step last week.

“This fight is far from over. We intend to take every legal step necessary to hold the FDA and this administration accountable for its extraordinary actions to block women from safe, effective emergency contraception,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights. “It has been ten years of battling to bring emergency contraception out from behind the pharmacy counter. The FDA cannot simply continue moving the goal posts down the field for women’s reproductive health care.”. . .