“EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE PILL PLAN B NOW AVAILABLE WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION IN BC”
For Immediate Release, May 31st, 2007
EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE PILL PLAN B
NOW AVAILABLE WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION IN BC
Two years after Health Canada approved the use of the
emergency
contraceptive pill Plan B for sale directly from pharmacies
without a
prescription, Options for Sexual Health is pleased to hear
that the BC
College of Pharmacists is now following the federal
recommendation.
BC pharmacists have been dispensing Plan B since 2001 as a
prescription
medication. Until now, though, they have been required to
have specialised
training to do so, and to consult extensively with the
client prior to
prescribing and providing the medication.
On Friday May 25th, the BC College of Pharmacists released
medical
information for its members regarding the change in how
Plan B is regulated.
Plan B is now a non-prescription product and will be
available behind the
counter from all pharmacists, like many other medications
for which the
consumer may need supplementary product information.
Options for Sexual Health (OPT), BC’s largest sexual health
services
provider, hopes that the change will dramatically increase
access to Plan B
in BC. Consumers will no longer be required to pay the $25
consultation fee
pharmacists charged them in addition to the $25 cost for
the product, while
the drug was still a prescription product. Those who
qualify for PharmaCare
will now receive an additional price reduction for the
product. This will
mean that the cost of accessing Plan B will now be brought
much more in line
with the $15 total cost that OPT has charged in all of its
50 BC clinics
since Plan B first became available here.
Plan B will now also be available to individuals who would
like to keep
emergency contraception at home so that it is readily
available for future
use, and to men who want to purchase it for their female
partners. "We’re
delighted this product can now be sold to men, as an
additional way they can
play a role in preventing unplanned pregnancy," says Greg
Smith, Executive
Director for Options for Sexual Health.
May 25th’s change in policy brings this province one step
closer to
pregnancy prevention on demand.
Plan B, comprised of the drug Levonorgestrel, can be used
by women following
unprotected intercourse to reduce the risk of pregnancy by
up to 89%. It is
most effective the sooner it is taken after unprotected
intercourse, but can
be used up to five days to prevent pregnancy. Plan B works
in one of three
ways: preventing the release of an egg from the ovaries;
preventing the
fertilization of an egg by sperm; or by potentially
preventing the
implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.
For interviews, please contact:
Jessica Peart
Manager, Executive Services
Options for Sexual Health
Media Cell: 604-786-0725
Email: jpeart@optbc.org
- 30 -
