The FDA next month will review Barr Laboratories' Plan B emergency contraceptive product as part of the drug maker's request for over-the-counter status, Bloomberg/Detroit News reports (Dooley, Bloomberg/Detroit News, 11/8). EC can significantly reduce the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse. Plan B is thought to work by interrupting ovulation, preventing fertilization of an egg or inhibiting a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. The Pomona, N.Y.-based generic drug maker last month announced plans to buy Plan B from Washington, D.C.-based Women's Capital Corporation. WCC, which was formed by a group of women's health advocates specifically to make EC available to the public, brought the drug onto the market after it gained FDA approval in 1999 (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 10/6). In April, WCC applied to the FDA to sell Plan B without a prescription (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/22). An FDA panel on Dec. 16 is scheduled to discuss whether to offer Plan B without a prescription, Bloomberg/Detroit News reports. Concerned Women for America, which opposes EC, will make a presentation at the meeting. Wendy Wright of CWA said, "There haven't been studies on the multiple effects or the long-term effects" of Plan B, adding, "They're putting young women at greater risk by giving them a false sense of security" (Bloomberg/Detroit News, 11/8).