The first over-the-counter birth control pill in the United States is now available online, drugmakers announced.
Dublin-based Perrigo announced Monday that customers can order its drug Opill on its website and Amazon, and the drug is expected to ship within a day or two.
Currently, the drug is available on Opill’s website for $49.99 for a three-month supply and $89.99 for a six-month supply.
On Amazon, a one-month supply costs $19.99 and a box of 84 counts costs $49.99.
One tablet should be taken every day at the same time.
Major retailers like CVS and Walgreens also announced that Opill will be available on a rolling basis this month in one- and three-month packs, and it is now available for pre-order at “most major drugstores.”
In all of these cases, anyone can buy Opill without a prescription after the FDA approved it for over-the-counter use last July.
Opill differs from other oral contraceptives in that it contains only one hormone – progestin – instead of two.
Opill has been hailed as “historic” by advocacy and medical groups such as Free the Pill and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who have pushed for years to make an affordable over-the-counter birth control pill available.
Meanwhile, some anti-abortion groups go so far as to equate hormonal contraception with abortion.
March for Life, the organization behind an annual event in which thousands of pro-life activists descend on Washington, D.C. for an anti-abortion protest, has argued for many years that hormonal contraception causes abortion. ‘abortion.
They call birth control, vaginal rings, and other forms of contraception “abortifacients.”
In the eyes of this group, the use of any contraceptive method that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterus is tantamount to abortion.
Sarah Young, senior vice president and chief consumer officer at Perrigo, said CNN: “Because privacy is important to Perrigo, Opill will be sent in plain, unbranded boxes.”
Opill has been used safely for about five decades, but the United States is an outlier when it comes to making the pills available without a doctor’s prescription.
Unlike combination pills, Opill does not contain estrogen, which increases the risk of blood clotting several times. Progestin-only pills are considered lower risk.
It works by thickening the mucus in the cervix, making it difficult for sperm to enter the uterus and fertilize an egg.
Progestin-only pills do not prevent ovulation to the same extent as combined birth control pills. Their efficiency is therefore slightly lower. Opill has been shown to prevent pregnancy from occurring in 98% of cases.
The FDA’s Over-the-Counter Drug Advisory Committee and Reproductive and Urologic Drug Advisory Committee, which met in May to discuss approval and voted unanimously in favor, had two main concerns regarding the designation of Opill for over-the-counter use.
The first concern was obesity, which is becoming more prevalent over time.
Currently, about four in ten Americans are considered medically overweight. In 1960, that figure was closer to 13 percent.
Research has shown that obese women who take oral contraceptives have an increased risk of blood clots, although this link is weaker when it comes to progestin-only pills.
Agency officials said: “Although the original clinical trials of the norgestrel tablet (mini-pill) did not present data based on weight or BMI, the prevalence of obesity among adults in the United States has changed dramatically since the original clinical studies were conducted more than 50 years ago. years ago.’
“The degree to which the effectiveness of (Opill) is diminished in overweight or obese individuals (who together today represent approximately 60% of the U.S. population of childbearing age…) remains unknown,” they added.
FDA officials also worried that making the pill available without a prescription would eliminate the ability for doctors to explain to patients the importance of taking the progestin-only pill daily within the same three-hour window, increasing thus the risk of forgetting doses or making an error. double the doses.
HRA Pharma addressed this concern in a large study called ACCESS, which mimicked an OTC environment to see if people were able to self-assess and take Opill appropriately.
The study found that 93 percent of people who took the mini-pill did so every day according to their schedule.
Both Walgreen’s and CVS announced they would carry Opill.
CVS spokesperson Matt Blanchette said CNN: ‘Opill will be available on CVS.com and through the CVS Pharmacy app in late March.’
“By early April, more than 7,500 CVS Pharmacy stores will offer Opill, and for added privacy and convenience, customers can choose same-day delivery or buy online and pick up in store.
Triona Schmelter, executive vice president and president of personal care products for the Americas at Perrigo, said that once Opill is available in stores, customers should be able to find it in the family planning section.
