By Leiti Hsu
UCLA Daily Bruin
February 8, 2006

She resigned because she couldn't do it anymore. She could not go out and explain to the public why the Food and Drug Administration again denied the emergency contraceptive pill over-the-counter status for "bogus reasons."

Tuesday night, students and staff gathered at the UCLA Gonda Center to hear Susan Wood, the former director of the FDA's Office of Women's Health.

Wood resigned in August 2005 in response to an announcement by FDA leadership to once again delay approval of Plan B emergency contraception to be available over the counter, despite the recommendation of FDA scientific staff.

Wood said the public is misinformed about the differences between abortion and contraception pills.

The Plan B emergency contraception pill is too often mistaken for the RU-486 abortion pill, though Plan B actually has the ability to prevent the need for abortion, she said.

Wood added that while RU-486 is used to abort the pregnancy, Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, does not affect or harm a fetus if pregnancy has already occurred.

"If you're comfortable with regular birth control pills, then you are comfortable with Plan B," she said.

Containing a higher dose of progesterone than regular birth control pills, Plan B works the same way – it suppresses ovulation and lessens the chance of the union of egg and sperm.

"(Over-the-counter emergency contraception) should have been approved the first time by early 2004," Wood said.

The FDA denied it approval in the summer of 2004, requiring more data about making Plan B available to young teens. Wood thought they had fixed the problem by applying for "two-tier status," meaning Plan B would only be available over the counter to those age 17 and older.

But even though the advisory committee agreed 28-0 that Plan B was safe for over-the-counter sales, the proposal was rejected again.

While the FDA "has the prerogative to not accept recommendations from advisory committees, the outrageous part was that there was agreement all the way up the chain (about its safety)," Wood said.

Linda Rosenstock, the dean of the UCLA School of Public Health, praised Wood, stressing the importance of speaking out and understanding the implications of the topic.

Lori Faber, a second-year anthropology student, said she respects Wood's strong beliefs.

"She's not going to stay with an organization that keeps shooting that down, no matter how prestigious (it is)," Faber said. "A lot of women feel like they've worked so hard for their high positions that they let their beliefs go by the wayside in order to save their careers."

Wood said it was not a difficult decision to leave the FDA.

"It was very clear to me that science was being overruled, the process was being abused, and women's health and the health of couples and families were being ignored," Wood said.

Wood's lecture was part of the Bixby Lecture Series. The Bixby Program expands the UCLA School of Public Health's research, training and service activities in the areas of population, reproductive health and family planning.