FDA Won't Regulate Pa. Birth Control Machine

Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration won't take any regulatory action over a vending machine at a Pennsylvania college that dispenses the morning-after pill.

FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said Friday that officials looked at publicly available information about the Shippensburg University vending program, spoke with university and campus health officials, and decided no action was necessary.

The pill is available for $25 at a health center vending machine that's accessible to students and university employees. That raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be.

The vending machine at the school of about 8,300 students provides the Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive along with condoms, decongestants and pregnancy tests. Administrators said the idea for the machine came from a student survey and was endorsed by the student government.


by Jason St. Amand , National News Editor

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