Emergency contraceptives over the counter. Allowing easy access is important

Bringing emergency contraception to American women: the history and remaining challenges

Emergency contraception has been called "America's best-kept secret." This article chronicles what it took to move it from secret to the pharmacy shelf. The fact that an emergency contraception product is available today in many pharmacies is indeed a major accomplishment. However, the job is not yet done. The shelf it needs to be found on is not just the pharmacists' shelf, behind the counter-but the shelf in the medicine cabinet in millions of homes everywhere, like burn medicine, "just in case."

Ectopic gestation following emergency contraceptive pill administration

Emergency contraceptive pill prescription following rape is common. We report a case of ectopic gestation after emergency contraceptive pill failure and review the literature on this rare complication. A 26-year-old woman with a normal menstrual period 2 weeks before was administered an emergency contraceptive pill 8 hours after a single sexual assault. The assault was her only sexual activity before and after the emergency contraceptive pill use. Forty-six days following the assault, the patient presented with a right ampullary tubal pregnancy of 59 days gestation and underwent emergent surgery for ectopic gestation. To prevent a delay in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, we recommend that providers and the package insert advise women, that ectopic gestation can occur with emergency contraceptive pill failure.