Heavier Women May Not Benefit from Using Morning After Pill

Heavier women, especially those who are classified as overweight and obese, may not necessarily benefit from using the morning after pill, a recent study claims.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently reviewing the potency of numerous 'morning after pills' including Norlevo and ellaOne. "This is an efficacy issue. We need to find out what the association is with body mass index and if there is a cut-off threshold for when the medicine becomes less effective," Monika Benstetter, an EMA spokeswoman said.

Morning-after pills are a class of drugs typically used to prevent unwanted pregnancy. These pills may be taken 72 hours after an episode of unprotected sex or if the primary mode of contraception has been found to have failed. HRA Pharma, manufacturers of Norlevo, has undergone label changes on their product which now states that the pills are not effective for women who are beyond 176 pounds. The label also categorically stated that Norlevo started to lose its effectiveness in women who weighed more than 165 pounds.

"We felt it was our ethical duty to report those results to our health authorities here in Europe," Erin Gainer, CEO of HRA Pharma said. Previous studies have suggested that oral contraception techniques tend to be ineffective among women who weigh more than 155 pounds. Under these circumstances, the best remedy that overweight women have to avoid unwanted pregnancy is to simply consult with their doctor and adopt an alternative method of contraception like copper IUD.