Plan B Morning After Pill Hits Stores

gam197 · Nov 13, 2006

By Sarah Bruyn Jones
Staff Writer
November 13. 2006 3:30AM

(advertisement)

The over-the-counter 'morning-after’ pill Plan B should hit pharmacy shelves this week, according to its manufacturer.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its subsidiary began nationwide shipments of the emergency contraceptive Plan B last week. The pill is a high dose of the most common ingredient in progestin-only birth-control pills.

In August, amid controversy, the Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter drug for consumers 18 years of age and older. It will be kept behind pharmacy counters but consumers don’t need a prescription to purchase it. Government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license, is needed to make an over-the-counter purchase.

A prescription is required for girls 17 and younger. The approval marks the first time the FDA has used an age restriction as the criterion in approving an over-the-counter drug.

National drugstore chains CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid will all carry Plan B.

“Most of our stores should have it by [now]," said Jody Cook, spokeswoman for Rite Aid.

Until March, Wal-Mart would not stock the prescription version of Plan B, but the chain said the pill will be available in all stores by mid-November in prescription and over-the-counter forms.

tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/NEWS/611130321/1007

Catholig · Nov 13, 2006

Well this doesn’t surprise me in the least. The pharmacies mentioned carry every other form of birth control.

If only something’d be done…

Catholig

jediliz · Nov 14, 2006

We have entered another age of consented sexual promiscuity. If they think this will reduce abortions, they are wrong. It may increase the number of girls getting sick from the drug’s side effects.

It all started with BIll Clinton’s very disgusting approval of the RU-486 drug. And it continues yet again with the MAP for over the counter.

And you know girls will get this without being 18 - they’ll get their 19 year old boyfriends to buy it for them.

God, please help us!

gam197 · Nov 14, 2006

Birth Control is still prescription only in all pharmacies. The **morning after pill is now over the counter. **Simply go the pharmacy desk, show an ID and anyone can buy it.

A Seattle study in blue state of Washington:

Monday, February 23, 2004

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                  Seattle study allows pharmacists

to prescribe contraceptives

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                  By KATHY GEORGE 
                  SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER 

                  Shampoo? Check. Tortilla chips?

Check. Coffee beans? Check. Birth control pills?

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                  Huh? 

                  Starting today, Seattle-area women will have another new choice in birth control. 

                  Eight local pharmacies will allow eligible women to walk in without an appointment or a prescription, answer some health questionsand, in as little as 30 minutes, walk out with a

three-month supply of birth control pills.

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                  Shopping lists may never be the

same.

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                  It's all part of a University of Washington study to find out if women -- andpharmacists -- are read for a bold new world of contraceptive drugs without doctors. 

                  Researchers will spend a year evaluating the experiences of up to 300 women between the ages of 18

and 45 who agree to get their contraceptives from pharmacists instead of physicians.if the experiences are positive, birth
control could someday be sold in all neighborhoods at
all hours.

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                  "This is offering an opportunity

that some women need," said UW spokeswoman Pam Sowers.

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                  The hours at medical clinics"may not coincide very well" with the lives of women who work and

care for children, Sowers said. "This will make up for their overcrowded schedules,"he added.

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                  Most of the pharmacies participating in the study are open until 9 onweeknights, and until 5 p.m. or later

on Saturdays and Sundays.Bartell Drugs in Queen Anne is open 24 hours everyday.

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                  But will the retail way carry the day? 

                  After all, convenience isn't everything.Pharmacists may wear the same white coats as doctors, but

they don’t necessarily inspire the same trust or candor from patients.
And some women may be uncomfortable with having to share more than their credit card numbers
at the counter.

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                  To get contraceptive pills, patches or vaginal rings directly from pharmacists, women first will have

to fill out questionnaires about their medical conditions, weight and smoking habits --all of which could disqualify them. To assess
the risk of pregnancy, the questionnaires also ask
about recent sexual activity.

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                  Women who qualify must have

their weight and blood pressure checked, and discuss
their medical histories with pharmacists to
make sure the prescriptions are medically appropriate.

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                  The public setting could be an

issue. At the Fred Meyer on Broadway, for example, the
pharmacy counter is only a few feet from
the coffee-bean dispensers.

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                  One pharmacist said private

screening rooms will prevent awkward moments.

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                  But the comfort level of women

is not the only concern. Some pharmacists may find
that the questioning, counseling and testing that goes along with prescribing contraceptives takes too much time away from traditionalcustomers.

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                  The study, officially kicking off today, will look at how well birth control works at both the customer

and retailer ends.

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                  It's the first study of its kindin Washington, a state that is already a pioneer in expanding access to birth control. Washington was the first to allow the sale of emergency contraceptives, or "morning-after pills," over the counter. 

                  Several young women interviewed

yesterday outside the University Village Bartell store
said the idea of birth control without a doctor’s visit would appeal to many in theirgeneration.

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                  "A lot of the girls aresometimes embarrassed, and they're scared of thegynecologist," said Elizabeth Watkins, a UW pharmacy studentwho happened to be at the store. "Then things happen."


                  PARTICIPATING PHARMACIES 

                        Fred Meyer -- in Capitol Hill, Covington, South Hill and Totem Lake       Bartell Drugs -- in Queen Anne, University Village, Redondo and downtown.

seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/161705_birthcontrol23.html

Plan B Morning After Pill Hits Stores

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