View the Expanded Table: Some Drugs for Altitude Illness, Jet Lag, and Motion Sickness

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) have recommended that women at risk for preeclampsia take low-dose aspirin daily after the first trimester.

An FDA Advisory Committee has recommended over-the-counter (OTC) marketing of Plan B (Barr), an emergency contraceptive "pill pack" that contains two 0.75-mg tablets of levonorgestrel to be taken 12 hours apart (Medical Letter 2000; 42:10). Plan B is one of two FDA-approved products for this indication. The Preven Emergency Contraceptive Kit (Medical Letter, 40:102, 1998) includes four tablets, each containing 0.25 mg of levonorgestrel and 50 ╡g of ethinyl estradiol; these are taken 2 at a time 12 hours apart (the "Yuzpe regimen") and are available only by...

The FDA has approved Kyleena (Bayer), an intrauterine device (IUD) that releases the synthetic progestin levonorgestrel, for prevention of pregnancy. It is the fourth levonorgestrel-releasing IUD to be approved in the US. Like Mirena, which has been available since 2000, Kyleena is approved for up to 5 years of use.

The copper T 380A (ParaGard - GynoPharma), a new intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) soon to be marketed in the USA, will be one of only two IUDs available in this country. Progestasert (Alza), which gradually releases progesterone (Medical Letter, 18:65, 1976), is the other.

The possibility that use of mifepristone (Mifeprex, and generics) may be restricted has led to questions about alternatives for medication abortion.

The FDA has approved the use of ulipristal acetate (ella – Watson) as an emergency contraceptive that can be taken up to 5 days after unprotected intercourse. It is available only by prescription.

The FDA has approved marketing of Plan B (Women's Capital Corporation), an emergency contraceptive "pill pack"that contains two 0.75-mg tablets of levonorgestrel.

High doses of various hormones have been used for many years to prevent pregnancy after unprotected coitus. Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen, was once approved for this purpose by the US Food and Drug Administration (Medical Letter 15:58, 1973), but no drug is now approved for such use. Ovral, an oral contraceptive containing 50 g of the estrogen ethinyl estradiol and 0.5 mg of the progestin norgestrel, has been recommended as a 'morning-after' pill by some physicians (RA Hatcher et al, Contraceptive Technology 1988-1989, 14th ed., New York:Irvington, 1988, page...

High doses of estrogens, with or without a progestin, have been used for many years to prevent pregnancy after unprotected coitus (Medical Letter, 31:93, 1989). Now the FDA has approved marketing of the Preven Emergency Contraceptive Kit (Gynetics, Inc.) for this indication. The kit, which will require a prescription, includes four tablets, each containing 50 g of ethinyl estradiol and 0.25 mg of levonorgestrel, and a pregnancy test to rule out a pre-existing pregnancy, which would be a contraindication to taking the hormones.