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Glasseye

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A gift for the women in your lives....

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/05/opill-birth-control-pill-over-the-counter/

 

 

Opill, first U.S. over-the-counter birth control pill, to hit stores: What to know

 and 
March 5, 2024 at 12:04 a.m. EST
 
Perrigo said Monday that it has begun shipping its over-the-counter contraceptive medication, called Opill, to major retailers and pharmacies. (Perrigo/AP)
 
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The first over-the-counter birth control pill in the United States will be available in stores and online in the coming weeks, manufacturer Perrigo announced Monday.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Opill in the summer as a nonprescription oral pill used to prevent pregnancy. “This is historic and transformative for reproductive rights without having to go to a physician, which presents a barrier to many people,” Julie Maslowsky, an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health, said after the FDA decision. She was a scientific consultant for HRA Pharma, a subsidiary of Perrigo that submitted the application to the FDA for approval.

 
 

Maslowsky said an over-the-counter pill will help marginalized populations, including people with low incomes who live in rural areas with few health-care options and so have the highest rate of unplanned pregnancy. “This will absolutely increase options and allow them to control their reproductive health,” Maslowsky said.

When will the over-the-counter pill be available?

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Opill is available for preorder from select online retailers and should be in stores nationwide in the coming weeks, Perrigo said in a news release.

How much will Opill cost?

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The pills will be sold in one-month and three-month packs, at $19.99 and $49.99, respectively. They will also be sold on Opill.com at $49.99 for a three-month supply and $89.99 for a six-month supply.

 

A cost-assistance program will also be available in the coming weeks for qualified low-income uninsured people, Perrigo said.

 

Questions loom about health insurance coverage. Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, said last summer that under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance plans are required to cover the cost of prescribed birth control pills. But over-the-counter medications like oral contraception don’t necessarily fall under the umbrella of coverage.

“So the coverage issues are still a little murky,” Corlette said. “They haven’t issued any clear direction to health plans yet.”

 

It may be possible to pay for Opill through flexible spending or health savings accounts, Perrigo said in its news release.

Where can you buy Opill?

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The pills will be available in most major retailers nationwide, Perrigo said, and online.

How old do you have to be to buy Opill?

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There is no age limit, “and that’s a big victory,” Maslowsky said. She compared Opill’s approval with when the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B became available over the counter — Plan B was restricted by age, and that meant people needed to show an ID to buy it.

“We were afraid that might be repeated, because it impacted not only adolescents, but also other people who didn’t have an ID or were afraid to ask for it because it was locked [away],” Maslowsky said.

Is Opill different from other birth control pills?

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Many prescription birth control pills combine synthetic forms of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. This impedes pregnancy in a few ways, including thickening the cervical mucus, making it difficult for an egg to be fertilized by sperm; thinning the uterine lining so that it’s harder for a fertilized egg to implant and grow; and suppressing ovulation.

 

Opill, which is sometimes called a mini pill, contains only progestin, the synthetic form of progesterone. While both combination and progesterone-only birth control pills are considered safe by health experts, a progestin-only pill has even fewer side effects.

How effective is Opill?

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Perrigo says Opill is 98 percent effective, based on eight U.S. clinical trials, which makes it among the most effective types of birth control available. The company notes that, like other contraceptive pills, Opill works best when taken at the same time every day.

The most effective birth control methods generally are intended as long-term solutions and are implemented by a doctor: implants, IUDs and sterilization. All are more than 99 percent effective. Pills — both combined and progestin-only — generally are about 93 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and male condoms are about 87 percent effective.

What are the side effects of Opill?

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Health experts tout this form of birth control as being low risk for side effects.

 

“A progesterone-only pill is safe for virtually everybody,” said Colleen Denny, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology and director of family planning at NYU Langone Hospital. “There is really no way to hurt yourself with a progesterone-only pill.”

Denny added that if there are side effects, they tend to be mild. The most common is changes to a person’s period, including more spotting, “which is not a dangerous thing,” she said.

Less common side effects might include headaches, dizziness, nausea, increased appetite, abdominal pain, cramps or bloating, according to Perrigo.

Will Opill be legally available everywhere in the U.S.?

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The FDA approval grants authority for Opill to be sold over the counter in stores across the United States, including in states where abortion has been banned or significantly limited. But Jack Hoadley, a research professor emeritus at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, said a pharmacy chain could decide to not sell it for fear of the politics surrounding reproductive medicine. For example, some pharmacy chains decided to not sell mifepristone, which is used in medication abortions, after being pressured by antiabortion advocates.

“We saw this with mifepristone, but I’m not sure the politics on this one is anywhere near the same as that drug,” Hoadley said.

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On 3/5/2024 at 4:29 PM, Glasseye said:

Beautiful niece.... hilarious !

 

 

Haha... my girlfriend in west africa asked me once why i hadn't noticed that every time a guy introduced his daughter it was a different girl.

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1 hour ago, Zambo said:

Haha... my girlfriend in west africa asked me once why i hadn't noticed that every time a guy introduced his daughter it was a different girl.

 

Maybe because it really was.....     haha  haha hahaha

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