I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women 17 and older, after a federal court ordered the agency to do so.
It had previously been availably only to women over 18, even though the FDA’s medical experts said there was no reason for that age restriction. FDA also announced this week that the drug will be available by August in a single-dose form, as opposed to the two-pill regimen that is currently on the market.
The single-dose Plan B will become available just as the two-pill version become eligible to be offered as a generic, which could make the drug more affordable. It currently costs between $20 and $50. Both versions of the drug will be available to those younger than 17 with a prescription.
Requiring women to take two pills timed 12 hours apart meant that inevitably some would forget or lose the second pill, decreasing the effectiveness of the drug and increasing the chances of an unintended pregnancy. So for several years health care providers had been counseling women to take both pills at the same time.
If taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex (or contraceptive failure), Plan B reduces the risk of pregnancy. It is most effective if taken as soon as possible. Like other methods of contraception, Plan B does not work if a woman is already pregnant.
