Last fall, a European drug "identical" to Plan B One-Step, Norlevo, was found to be less effective in heavier women. Naturally, Americans wondered if the same was true for Plan B, since 23 percent of American women aged 20 to 44 are obese. A new report, however, states that emergency contraceptives are effective for women of any weight.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) requested a warning for Norlevo last year, stating that it may be less effective in women with BMIs over 25. Now, however, the EMA is stating that emergency contraceptives are effective in pregnancy prevention, regardless of weight. The EMA now claims that there "isn't enough data to support the previous warning to women about weight," Time reports.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has currently not issued similar warnings about Plan B's effectiveness in heavier women. According to Time, the EMA found that the earlier studies on Norlevo's effectiveness were "not substantial enough to conclude that the contraceptives' effect was decreased with increased body weight."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The EMA has recommended that Norlevo remove the current weight warning from its packaging, but it also suggests including study results about "potentially reduced effects in heavier women."
-
Why social media is obsessed with cortisolIn The Spotlight Wellness trend is the latest response to an increasingly maligned hormone
-
Peter Mandelson called Epstein his 'best pal' in birthday noteSpeed Read The UK's ambassador to Washington described the late convicted paedophile as an 'intelligent, sharp-witted man'
-
'Vampire energy' could be causing your electric bill to riseUnder the Radar Wasted energy could account for up to 10% of home use
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
