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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first birth control pill to be sold without a prescription, a milestone that could expand women’s access to contraception in the country. The pill – whose trade name is Opill – will be available in pharmacies, stores and supermarkets, as well as for sale on the Internet, the FDA announced in a statement<\/a>. The company that manufactures it, Dublin-based Perrigo, said sales will begin in early 2024. <\/p>\n \u201cToday’s approval marks the first time that a daily oral contraceptive without a prescription will be an option available to millions of people in the United States,\u201d Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told reporters. She added that \u201cwhen used as directed, daily oral contraception is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available over-the-counter methods of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy,\u201d such as condoms, spermicides and other over-the-counter options. The directions state that, to be effective, the pill must be taken every day at the same time. <\/p>\n Opill could be especially useful for young women, teenagers and people who have difficulty dealing with the time, cost or logistical hurdles of going to a doctor’s office to get a prescription, reproductive health experts said after hearing the news, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n While selling the pill freely and without age limits ensures wider access, it is not yet known what the price will be, a key factor in determining how many women will actually be able to buy it. The company said that information will be known in the coming months, although Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique Welgryn, Perrigo’s global vice president of women’s health, reaffirmed in a statement the commitment to make it an \u201caccessible and affordable method of contraception for women and people of all ages.\u201d <\/p>\n Nearly half of the 6.1 million pregnancies that occur each year in the United States are unintended, the FDA recalls in the statement, and warns that these are pregnancies that can lead to \u201cnegative maternal and perinatal outcomes,\u201d such as \u201creduced likelihood of early prenatal care and increased risk of preterm delivery, with associated adverse neonatal, infant, and developmental health outcomes.\u201d In that sense, it points out that \u201cthe availability of Opill without prescription can help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and their potential negative impacts\u201d. <\/p>\n <\/p>\nA light in a dark scenario<\/strong><\/h3>\n