The New York Times today examines how emergency contraception has "come out of the shadows" since 1999, with more women aware of and using the pills that can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. Since 1999, Women's Capital Corp. has sold approximately three million doses of its EC Plan B, and Gynetics' sale of its EC Preven increased 50% last year, according to the Times. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey to be published in Self magazine next month, 6% of women reported using EC, compared with 1% in 1997. In addition, 68% of women surveyed said they knew about EC, compared with 51% in 2000 and 41% in 1997. WCC last month applied to the FDA for permission to sell Plan B without a prescription, and Gynetics said that it expects Preven to be sold over the counter by the end of next year (Zernike, New York Times, 5/19).