The journal, in its upcoming May 20 edition, has said that acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach must make an independent decision on Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc's bid to sell its Plan B or "morning after pill", without prescription.
According to the editors of the British journal, the "agency is stalling, apparently to avoid offending antiabortion supporters of President Bush."
President Bush tapped von Eschenbach to run the agency full-time earlier this year, but his nomination has stalled in the U.S. Senate, where two Democrats have blocked any vote pending a decision on the drug.
FDA describes the Plan B as a set of two pills which if taken within 72 hours can prevent pregnancy, unlike the abortion pill RU-486 regimen which ends an established pregnancy.
But opponents of the measure believe that making the drug easier to get will encourage the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
