News Oct 9, 2013 at 4:00 am

Plan B Isn't Truly Over the Counter in Portland

Comments

1
Interesting article, though not too surprising. Another ridiculous obstacle only briefly touched on in the article is the cost. It's true, if you go through the obigatory interrogation by the pharmacist and show your ID (in which your name is then recorded) you are asked for $50.00. FOR A SINGLE PILL. To be sure, levonorgestrel, a synthetic progesterone which is the active ingredient in Plan B, many oral contraceptive pills and the IUD Mirena, is relatively cheap. Pharmaceutical companies can churn out bricks of the stuff for pennies.

Of course cost is probably the best deterrent for the group of people who are most likely to benefit from emergency contraception--underage, poor, single and marginalized.

I bring this up for the irony of my own experience with Plan B. I am a middle aged, professional, married white guy (who has extensive knowledge of contraception through his job) who was on vacation in the early part of the summer in Southern California with my wife. We have no children and have used all kinds of contraception from "the rhythm method" and "spray and pray" to condoms, ocps and IUDs. After my wife, who is in her mid-thirtes, decided to quit all the hormone choices (and I in the contemplation phase of a vasectomy) we were cruising along without a "net" (admittedly half-heartedly hoping for a baby). One night, after drinks with friends on the beach we a shared a night of wild abandon. Upon awakening I did some fuzzy calculations in my head and realized that my wife was probably ovulating (which I also thought was partially responsible for the "wild abandon" part of our night). After some contemplative conversation over coffee in the morning we decided it would best to go ahead and try Plan B. She had never taken it before.

California also has Plan-B over the counter and so I ran into a Walgreen's to pick it up. But, it was not really "over the counter" and, as the article describes it, I was directed to the pharmacy counter. I waited in line and asked the pharmacy tech for Plan B. With a raised eye she stated that she had to get the pharmacist who asked me one, if it was for me and two, if I had ID. I explained that it was for my wife and he filled out the form with my driver's license and then said, "That'll be $50.00." Now, having worked for years at community health clinics and given out mountains of contraception, I was agog. I can certainly afford Plan-B but I'll be goddamned if I am going to give Walgreen's or TEVA/Women's Health a fucking penny out of principle (I thought to myself $20.00 seemed reasonable as that was the price of the bottle of wine that contributed to the lapse in judgement). Keeping the 72-120 hour window in mind I literally drove to a community health clinic I used to work at in Northern California and got Plan-B from an old colleague.

Here in Portland the access to Plan B through our local pharmacies is probably easier than say in a place like John Day or Tillamook. Imagine the obstacles for a 16 year old girl with little money, less understanding parents and needing emergency contraception--50 bucks is a lot for someone like her and, notably, a lot less than an abortion or the lifetime cost of an unwanted child for society. The pharmacies in Oregon need to ADHERE TO THE LAW, have the stuff on the shelf and price it reasonably. Far more people become seriously ill and/or die from Tylenol than hormonal contraceptives so it's obviously not an issue of health or safety but a political one.

To all those needing Plan-B do not forget about Planned Parenthood--it's great organization (though admittedly not everywhere particularly in rural areas) and can provide contraception, emergency contraception and many other resources for sexual health at a much reduced cost for most people. Thank you Sarah for the insightful article.
2
You can walk into any pharmacy in British Columbia and ask the pharmacist for AC&C, (Aspirin Caffeine, & Codeine) and the only question they ask you is how big a bottle you want. Here, you ought to be using herbs, anyway.

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