FDA Set to Decide on Morning-After Pill

[NC_Nurse]

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20050116/D87LAAE80.html?PG=home&SEC=news

By LAURA MECKLER


WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is considering whether to make morning-after birth control available without a prescription, and like most issues that involve sex and pregnancy, it has generated heated debate.

Fierce arguments have gone on inside and outside the Food and Drug Administration, which may decide as soon as this week whether drug stores can sell the emergency contraception known as Plan B without a prescription to women age 16 and older.

Each side accuses the other of manipulating science for political purpose.



You want fewer abortions? Give women more options! Hello!

[Massacure]

1. I hope it gets decided on its safetey and not on politics...

[MaineDem]

2. This is such a no-brainer

If people just think it out logically.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Help me out here

I am very much in favor of this drug being available but am leaning toward keeping it available only by prescription. Am I wrong?

[CottonBear]

5. Yes. You are wrong.

Are you a man? This is no different than birth control pills. Women are smart. We know how to take medications. We know our bodies. We know about reproduction. We know about our finances and our personal situation.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. No I am a woman

And I am concerned about side effects, complications from other meds, etc.

I am NOT opposed to this drug being available.

Is it an over the counter med in other countries?

[thedailyshow]

16. the side effects are the SAME as any other drug

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. So they are the same as aspirin

or tylenol?

[Ms_Mary]

38. I have to call you on this

What on earth do you mean the side effects are the same? That's a very broad and misleading and inaccurate statement. The same as what? Drugs don't have the same side effects. All drugs are not created equally.

[thedailyshow]

55. looking up the information yourself is quite helpful

but hell, I'll do it anyway for you:

"The manufacturer reports that nausea is the most common side effect; however, very few women have actually reported significant nausea or vomiting. Eating small frequent meals for the next 24 hours may help decrease these symptoms. Report any severe side effects to your health care provider.

Other reported side effects include fatigue, headache, abdominal pain or cramps, dizziness, breast tenderness, diarrhea and moodiness. These side effects would not be expected to last more than two days after taking Plan B.

Changes in the menstrual cycle can be expected. Some women will experience spotting a few days after taking Plan B.

Women report that the menses may start a few days early or may be delayed a few days. The amount of menstrual flow may be either lighter or heavier than usual. A pregnancy test should be done if no period occurs within three weeks of using Plan B or if the menses is very light. Pregnancy tests are available in the Resource Room at McKinley Health Center and the Well U Room at the Illini Union.

If, for any reason, medical care is needed before a normal period has occurred, the health care provider should be advised that emergency contraception has been used recently. The provider may wish to do a screening pregnancy test before prescribing certain medications or treatments. If there is a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, medical care should be obtained immediately."

[Ms_Mary]

56. Thanks, but I wasn't asking for that. I was talking about the

statement you made about the side effects being the same as any other drug. There is no such thing and I can't stand it when people make sweeping generalizations about drugs.

I appreciate the info b/c it's been a really long time since I read up on the morning after pill and I'd forgotten the specifics, but I was talking about something entirely different.

[arcos]

17. Yes...

In fact, it is given for free in high schools in France.

[DemBones DemBones]

22. Got a link for that? It sounds like transatlantic urban myth. nt

[jdj]

30. link:

EC again available to through schools in France

In early October, the French National Assembly voted to allow the distribution of the emergency contraceptive brand NorLevo to minors without parental consent or a doctor's prescription. The vote overturned an earlier ruling that prohibited school nurses from giving EC to students. NorLevo is a levonorgestrel-only product distributed by HRA Pharma.

Contact:

Andre Ullman
HRA Pharma

edit on second thought took out the phone #'s, etc

http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/comm58.asp

(this is not this past October, I think this is several years ago.)

[arcos]

33. no myth...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/599311.stm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/13/health/main508792.shtml

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I had no idea

Thanks for the info.

Is it available in Canada? or Mexico? If so, we should just add it to the list of drugs to cross the border to get.

Don't you just love the FDA? **sarcasm**

[arcos]

32. Canada yes... don't know about Mexico...

"At about the same time (May 2004) Canada's Health Minister announced that Plan B would soon become available from pharmacists in all provinces without a prescription, although this has yet to occur. It is currently available without a prescription in Québec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The new system would still require the person to buy the pills directly from the pharmacist.

Emergency contraception is available without prescription in Albania, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Morocco, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, and Sweden."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning-after_pill

[xxqqqzme]

60. Yes it is OTC in

many countries.

[ecstatic]

61. What about the time consideration?

As someone who needed this pill before, but couldn't get to a doctor in time, I was almost faced with a very scary situation (unplanned pregnancy). The prescription step is an extra step that could very well lead to an unplanned pregnancy and/or abortion. People these days work and don't have time to be making doctor's visits in the middle of the week.

[TheWraith]

18. Nice attitude.

"This is no different than birth control pills."

Yeah, actually it is. If you knew about how drugs actually work, you wouldn’t say that.

"Women are smart. We know how to take medications. We know our bodies. We know about reproduction. We know about our finances and our personal situation.”

All of which has exactly zero to do with the safety of the drug and its potential ramifications.

No, it should not be available without a prescription. Besides the many unresolved safety questions about the drug itself, non-prescription availability would lead to a reduction in the reporting of rape cases because the victims wouldn’t need a hospital exam to get the pill.

[alittlelark]

27. Decrease Rape Reports!!??!!

...."Besides the many unresolved safety questions about the drug itself, non-prescription availability would lead to a reduction in the reporting of rape cases because the victims wouldn’t need a hospital exam to get the pill."


Uh, yeah..... Rape victims who do not report the crime do so out of fear and/or shame. Pregnancy generally does not enter into the equation as a thought for a few days.

[jdj]

29. there are not unresolved questions about it's safety.

This medicine is already given to rape victims and wouldn't be if there were "unresolved questions about it's safety." Get a clue.

Rape victims should not be penalized for not reporting rape. Wouldn't you say the rape is bad enough? Give me a break, that is some twisted logic, withold the pill so she'll be forced to report the rape after she was forced to copulate against her will? The salt in the wound thing is not a very convincing rationale.

edit: here's an explanation of the difference between these and RU 486, the "abortion pill",

Morning after" contraception (also called emergency contraception or EC) is not the same thing as RU-486. Morning-after pills--"Preven" (progestin) and "Plan B" (progestin and estrogen)--are effective only for the first 72 hours after intercourse, the sooner the better. They work by preventing the implantation in the uterus of a fertilized egg. If a fertilized egg has already implanted, morning-after contraception won't affect it. It is, therefore, not an abortifacient and even people who oppose abortion strongly should have no problem with it.

RU-486 (also called "the French abortion pill") is a completely different drug, mifepristone. Used in France and other European countries and China for about a dozen years, it was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration this September. In combination with another drug, misoprostol, RU-486 causes a miscarriage, aka abortion, in early pregnancies (it's approved for pregnancies up to seven weeks since last menstrual period, but studies suggest it is effective for at least another week after that, and possibly two weeks). An RU-486 abortion requires three visits to the doctor and costs about the same as a surgical abortion.

The AMA's proposal was that the morning-after pill be sold over the counter--it's a great idea, but it has nothing to do with abortion.

http://eatthestate.org/05-09/Backtalk.htm

[Ms_Mary]

39. I think that's the confusion. This is not RU 486. I have to admit that

even thought I know the diffrence between the morning after and RU 486, I initially had the abortion pill in mind.

[tavalon]

44. "this is no different than birth control pills"

Actually, that is a correct statement. The "morning after" pill is actually a few pills, a few birth control pills and many of us in the know have kept a pack of pills around for accidents.

Now, having said that, there are people who shouldn't take birth control pills and those same women shouldn't take the morning after pill.

And on the third hand (you didn't know I was a mutant, did you) I strongly support that it be non-prescription but only available in drug stores when pharmacists are around or only available with an easy to read warning pamphlet. It would suck if even one person had a stroke because they were in the high risk group.

Then again, I believe that we should remove all drugs from prescription status and let the chips fall where they may, but that is my more radical persona. The Nurse persona knows that the average Joe or Jane really does need access to expert, nonjudgmental advice.

[Mandate My Ass]

69. No actually it isn't

it's a concentrated dose of the same hormones in standardly prescribed BCPs.

Decrease rape reports???? Tell me you don't truly believe the only reason women report rape is because they might get pregnant.

I've really heard it all now.

[rodeodance]

36. I agree, you are wrong on this one.

[Beaverhausen]

9. have you heard about the pharmacists who won"t fill prescriptions for>>>

birth control pills? apparantlty they are legally allowed to not fill a prescription they feel is morally against thier beliefs>

i"m sure the morning after pill is even more heinous to these pharmacists> and that is why it should be available without a prescription


note_ my keyboard is acting funky_ sorry about the weird punctuation>

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Good point

I hadn't thought about that.

[DemBones DemBones]

23. From what I've read, the morning-after pill should be taken under

medical supervision, which means making it OTC is risky for womens' health.

Edit: No, wait, I'm thinking abortion pills. I don't know that morning after pills are particularly risky but if some pharmacists won't sell birth-control pills, you can be sure many pharmacies won't sell morning-after pills OTC because they're designed to prevent implantation, not prevent conception, which makes them an early abortion pill to anyone who believes life believes at conception.

[arcos]

31. Actually, they are designed to prevent ovulation...

some MAY prevent implantation, but that is not how it is proven to work.

[Mandate My Ass]

70. No it makes them contraception

Because a woman has not conceived until the fertilized egg implants on the uterine wall.

EC is by every definition of the word, a contraceptive. It cannot affect a pregnancy in progress. And it is only theory that it might prevent implantation, it's primary effectiveness is to delay ovulation and create a chemical environment not conducive to sperm reaching the egg if it is released.

Keep that misinformation coming, that's what I'm here for, DBDB.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

49. Especially considering

That at least one pharmacists caught hell for refusing to fill the morning-after prescription SPECIFICALLY of a rape victim.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/02/03/pharmacy.protest.ap/

[franmarz]

57. About not filling scrips for birth control--

The birth control pill called --the morning after pill is really progesteron, which cause the slough off of the uterus.This happens naturally to end a monthly period.
This is followed by Estrogen buildup - in normal conditions. I worked in a hospital one time, where the morning after pill was given in cases of rape.When the administrator learned of this policy, it was terminated. The patients were told to see their family physician.
The nurses were at least able to tell the victims that time was very important, and the family Dr should be seen immediately.

[American Tragedy]

62. Why? So the prices will be gouged and it can be restricted?

[CottonBear]

63. Doctors in my town will not prescribe it.

I had to call Planned Parenthood (long distance) and get a prescription over the phone (at a cost of $45) for 1 pack of standard birth control pills. I took the reccomended dose and had no side effects. No doctor here will prescribe the drug even though it's just birth control pills.

[onebigbadwulf]

4. It's a no brainer for the non-fundies

But religious morons don't like the destruction of life =(

[thedailyshow]

6. If you're already pregnant if you take morning-after pills, it has

no effect on your pregnancy.

[mrbassman03]

8. Why would you take the morning after pill if you are already pregnant?

Ummmm, I thought the purpose was to KEEP FROM GETTING PREGNANT...

[OnionPatch]

10. From what I've read

it keeps a fertilized egg from implanting into the uterine wall. This is where I think the hard-core anti-abortion people object.

Personally, if a woman is going to end a pregnancy, I'd rather see her end it ASAP. (The stage of development affects my opinion on abortion.)

Edited to add that I also just read it can stop you from releasing an egg if one has not been released already.

[alittlelark]

28. I agree - I am hard-core pro-choice, but 24 weeks is my cut-off

after that I am uncomforable, and would want an abortion-seeker to see a therapist. The maternal health risk skyrockets, and, a few (very few) fetuses would be able to survive outside the womb at that point.

Make the 'morning after pill' non-prescription, and sex- ed (the TRUE stuff) available, and we would have sooo many fewer abortions.

[thedailyshow]

15. um, look.....if the egg already has been fertilized, it doesn't work

info about Plan B:

Plan B works through delaying or preventing ovulation, by interfering with fertilization (inhibiting the movement of the egg or the sperm through the fallopian tube), and may inhibit implantation by altering the lining of the uterus. It is not effective if the process of implantation has begun. Plan B will NOT cause a miscarriage or abortion. Plan B does not provide any protection or treatment against sexually transmitted infections.

Plan B may reduce the risk of pregnancy by 95% when taken within the first 24 hours after unprotected intercourse and by 61% when taken between 48-72 hours. Recent research indicates that taking Plan B between 72 and 120 hours after unprotected intercourse continues to provide some protection against unwanted pregnancy. Plan B is not as effective as using consistent contraception with each act of intercourse and is not to be considered a routine contraceptive method. Plan B is effective only for this particular act of intercourse and does not provide any protection against pregnancy as a result of previous acts of unprotected intercourse and will not provide any contraceptive protection during the remainder of this menstrual cycle. It is very important to use a consistent method of birth control for the remainder of this cycle.

[mrbassman03]

21. Oh, I understand the point of your last post...

I didn't realize you were discussing the people who say the morning after pill causes an abortion... of course it doesn't. I thought for some reason that there were people worried about taking the morning after pill to prevent pregnancy after they were already pregnant, if that makes any sense. Anyway, sorry to interrupt the flow of the discussion, carry on.

[WindRavenX]

65. because people don't know what Plan B and the Pill actually do

Neither will terminate a pregnancy once there is implantation- yet the Fundies have been calling both The Pill and Plan B "chemical abortions". Neither of these medications will induce an abortion- that's RU-486 and that IS a "chemical" abortion.

[Fleshdancer]

67. they want to confuse the public in order to push their agendas

I seriously think they confuse the names of the drugs on purpose. Makes me want to call the morning after pill "pre-fertilization emergency pill" or something more obvious to the public.

[WindRavenX]

68. exactly. They have harnassed the power of words

That's how the Right has caused a sea change of public perception on abortion and, in general, reproductive health issues like family planning. They use words that are *heavily* loaded with emotions- "partial birth abortion" ring a bell? PBA isn't a medical term NOR does it describe what the circumstances for such a late term termination of pregnancy. It does, however, have a lot of emotions behind it.
And you're right- these matters should be named in manners that reflect their true nature. Not "Plan B" but "Pre-Fertilization Emergency Pill".

[Blue Gardener]

11. I'll be shocked if it goes through

The climate right now in this country is not positive for women's issues such as this. The fundies will go ballistic if this is allowed. I hope the FDA has the courage to do the right thing and allow OTC sales, and to hell with the wingnut fundies. I don't need them controlling my reproductive choices, I can manage quite well on my own.

[MaineDem]

13. It's dispensed by pharmacists here in Maine

The Legislature approved this last year. Good job!

The FDA should do the same.

This doesn't end a pregnancy; it prevents one.

[snippy]

20. I will be shocked if the FDA follows the law and approves OTC sales.

No independent agency in the Bush administration has ever followed the law when the polling numbers among the republican base was against the result from doing so. Even though Bush can't run again, I do not think Rove will stop providing the various agencies with his polling results and orders to make decisions consistent with such results.

[davsand]

14. Aren't those the same thing as birth control pills?

Aren't they just a higher dose than the usual BC pills?? Seems to me that maybe if the FDA kisses the fundy ring on this one and renders it illegal for OTC, maybe we women need to just work together and create our OWN morning after packs out of our prescribed pills.

Back in the days before Roe V Wade there were a few groups of women who got together and helped each other deal with "problem periods" by using menstrual extraction. (Early vacuum aspiration of the lining and any eggs that may have implanted in there.) If it gets bad here in the US for women again I expect those groups may re-form...


Laura

[TheWraith]

19. Not quite.

“Aren't they just a higher dose than the usual BC pills??"

Not quite. As I recall, they're formulated differently and include some convolutions not included in the normal pills. The 'higher dose' explanation is the easy one used by and for the media so that they don't have to actually educate people.

[elizsan]

24. Quite safe

Plan B has only one med, Levonorgestrel, which is a progesterone. The usual side effects of birth control pills are primarily due to estrogens (most birth control pills contain estrogen and progesterone, except "mini-pills", which are progesterone only). Plan B is a great drug. If you have doubts about why this should be made non-Rx, talk to anyone who works at Planned Parenthood about how many unplanned pregnancies might never have happened if the girl/woman knew about this drug and had access to it.

[Sgent]

34. I have mixed feelings about this....

My druthers would be to have it distruted under the supervision of a physician or pharmacist. That way a school nurse, etc could distribute it, or a pharmacist using under the counter.

Maybe in time it could go to true OTC, but I am concerned about the potential for abuse. Although BC is relatively benign, it is not harmless, and this WILL be used as a birth control pill substitute.

Hopefully by requiring some sort of counseling (pharm, doctor, nurse, etc.) we could eliminate the worst of it.

I would be strongly against issuing it to people under 16 w/o the above. In most states, someone under 16 who is having sex is being raped. They don't have the legal ability to consent to sex, and to have it completely unreported is setting them up for continuing problems. I have dealt with too many abused children to not use every possible means to help them.

[Tradnor]

35. What about other birth control?

Should people under 16 not be allowed to buy condoms without this "counseling"?

[rodeodance]

37. why the arbitrary age of 16?

[Fleshdancer]

47. A study was done recently debunking the BC substitute myth....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48377-2005Jan4.html

Morning-After Pill Study Contradicts Claim by Foes
Easy Access Did Not Lead to Riskier Behavior


Providing women with easy access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B did not lead them to engage in more risky sexual behavior, a study of more than 2,000 California women has concluded.

The study did find that women given a supply to keep at home were more than 1 1/2 times as likely to use the drug after unprotected sex as those who had to pick it up at a clinic or pharmacy. The findings led the study authors to conclude that easy access to Plan B, also called the morning-after pill, could reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies while posing no apparent risk to women.

The study contradicts a key claim made by opponents of easier access to Plan B at a time when the Food and Drug Administration is preparing to decide on a second application to allow nonprescription sales of the drug.

In an indication of the strong feelings on both sides, advocates of Plan B are planning a sit-in at FDA headquarters in Bethesda on Friday. Some protesters have called for civil disobedience if the FDA official who rejected the first Plan B application, Steven Galson of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, refuses to meet with them.

[Ms_Mary]

40. It prevents implantation, right? My memory is rusty.

[Fleshdancer]

48. Here's some info and how it works and the side effects:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/morningafterpill.htm

How does the postcoital pill work?

The hormones in the PCP may stop an egg from being released. Or they may stop a fertilised egg from implanting itself in the womb.

Does the PCP have any side effects?

With the old PCP, the most common symptom was feeling or being sick.

The new progestogen-only PCP (Levonelle-2 or Levonelle) is less likely to cause nausea although it may give women breast tenderness, headaches, dizziness and tiredness. If you are sick or have diarrhoea, you should contact your doctor, pharmacist, or family planning clinic as you may need to take another dose.

[shimmergal]

41. Even better than creating our own packs. . .

There are websites where you can order drugs that are prescription-only in US and have them mailed to you from overseas. No prescription necessary. I don't know if Plan B is available yet this way, but it probably will be. Why not order in advance so women with "morning after" panic will have them easily available?

[Sgent]

42. Condoms don't have side effects

The morning after pill Pills does.

The reason I said 16 is because its the age of consent in my state -- other's maybe different.

[davsand]

43. You have to be 18 to buy cigarettes.

This is said with tongue firmly in cheek--OK?

They have laws in place about selling to underage kids when it comes to cigarettes. I'll grant you, kids do still smoke, but with "good tobacco education" the reported numbers seem to be dropping.

So, cut to this discussion, and you see people who are arguing that EC is potentially bad because it might lead to risky behavior in teens or it might have bad side effects. Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't it make a lot of sense to reduce the desire for EC over time, after it is on the market, with better education about contraception?

Ya know--follow the idea that education is a means to avoiding the need...

::sarcasm off::

I'm not demeaning any of you on here who are expressing concern at what the side effects are on women who use the product--far from it, in fact!

What I'm marveling at is the attitude that we should tell teens to wait till they are married (with no factual idea of how to avoid pregnancy) and THEN we should make it impossible for them to have access to contraceptives at all.

I have to wonder how our teens survive these days.


Laura

[Fleshdancer]

54. I know a young woman who is allergic to latex....

technically, there could be side effects to condoms. Sucks for her by the way! Very rare though and not a valid argument for me to make...I just wanted to be a smartass for a sec. :silly:

If the FDA approves this time, it will be because women 16 years or older will be allowed to purchase it. You picked the correct age.

[tavalon]

45. Yes

That is what we will do. It is too important to be left to political gerrymandering.

[Fleshdancer]

46. We're back to this again???

The FDA said "no" to over the counter morning after pills less than a year ago because they were afraid it would have negative side effects on younger women. That's why the application was re-submitted with the provision that it be sold only to people 16 and older.

Aside from the pressure the FDA received from social conservatives (or, as I like to call them, "Womb Raiders") I think things would be far less confusing if we had more clear names for both Plan B and RU-486 because many people don't seem to realize the difference.

[Sgent]

50. At least in my case I know the difference...

My major worry is two fold:

1) That people who are not familiar with these drugs will use an OTC regiem on a regular basis. This is a misuse of the product, but the product can be fairly dangerous used in this mannor. There is a reason standard progesterone is sold with perscription (birth control), and it has to do with side effects, especially in long term use.

Are these relatively benighn? Yes, but they aren't as benign as aspirin, motrin, or claritin.

Although some of this problem will be aleviated with age, much of it won't be. Although I believe anyone reading this message will use the product correctly, and would instruct their daughter's as well, I don't have that faith in the population at large -- which is based on experience in the healthcare field with low income patients (lots of illiteracy, etc).

2) Currently -- with either a pregnancy blood test or a request for Plan B, the health care community is alerted when someone is pregnant. Although this may not be a major issue for those over 16, this fact alone has saved more than one girl from a situation of ongoing sexual abuse. When a 12 year old comes into our office asking for Plan B, it is not infrequent that the reason for this is father, uncle, brother, etc. The step of going to your doctor, planned parenthood, etc, requires that that these children can be helped -- something that will be lost otherwise.

[MaineDem]

51. My understanding, and I could be wrong

Here in Maine, at least, Plan B is available through a pharmacist but requires no doctor's prescription.

The pharmacist has the training required to dispense the drug and, I assume, the smarts to recognize, as well as a doctor, the signs of abuse. Especially if this is used on a regular basis. I understand the cost is not minimal and that alone will preclude many women from using it on a regular basis.

[Sgent]

52. See my previous message...

I had no problem if it was dispensed "under the counter" by a pharmacist ...

[Fleshdancer]

53. for what its worth....

Of course there's risk for any OTC drug to be abused, but for what its worth, a recent study concluded that there was no evidence that Plan B would be widely abused if sold OTC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48377-2005Jan4.html

One way to help with this issue is to sell the morning after pill at the same price as birth control. The only way I can see someone having an incentive to use this as a main form of bc is if it is financially optimal. Even sold over the counter, the Plan B would also be available in Dr's offices for cases of young women under the age 16, rape kits, and for those who need to emergency contraception but can't afford the OTC prices.

When it comes to sexual abuse, I hope having an age limit of 16 helps alleviate some of the concerns. By the time a young woman is 16, she can already obtain the Morning After pill without ever reporting a rape though. I would prefer that every rape victim reports the abuse but keeping emergency contraception prescription only doesn't necessarily mean less rapes will be reported.

[Sgent]

58. Hmm....

Maybe this is a difference in states. In the case of child abuse (those under 16, depending on the other's age), it is reported. For a physician, teacher, preacher, etc. to not report it is a felony.

[Fleshdancer]

64. perhaps I spoke too soon....

now that I think about it, I'm not 100% positive that Planned Parenthood would dispense the morning after pill to 16 yr. olds. I just made the assumption they would. I know minors can obtain birth control so would it be different for emergency birth control? I think I'll ask next time I pick up my bc.

[Megahurtz]

59. Yes it SHOULD be dispensed without a prescription

most definitely so.

[fshrink]

66. Truth is:

It's a French patent (Roussel Uclaf Laboratories) offered more than 20 years ago. As usual in those cases, anything works to prevent other countries to make profit on the US market (the chip on Credit Card is another example). Strictly anything, including moral stances. Profit is the bottom line, the rest are plain lies. Rings a bell?