Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mother was when she learned two years ago that oral contraceptives were not sold over the counter in the United States without a prescription.
“My parents are immigrants from India, and my mother has been setting up shopfronts in India for as long as she can remember,” said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Even before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Opil, contraceptives were already available without a prescription in more than 100 countries. The hormonal over-the-counter contraceptive was approved in May 2023, but it didn’t hit the shelves of online retailers or major drug stores nationwide until a few months ago.
Opill is a progestin-only oral contraceptive pill, which is slightly different from common prescription drugs that combine progestin and estrogen. Dr. Christine Leary, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Green Bay, Wisconsin, says this means oral contraceptives are still very safe and 98% effective, but users should be sure to take them at the same time each day. He said they needed to work harder. If you miss this time by more than three hours, the chance of an unplanned pregnancy increases, so we recommend using back-up protection for the next 48 hours until you get back on track.
Srinivasan, 21, has medical insurance through her parents’ private insurance, but when she called the clinic last year to see if she could get a prescription for contraceptives, the first available appointment was six months away.
She decided to hold off because she happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, to get Opill approved by the FDA.
“Mostly out of exasperation, I thought, ‘I’ll just wait and get it in the store,'” she said.
On March 22, shortly after Opil hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan and a friend drove to a nearby Walgreens and bought their first pack, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded themselves receiving their first doses on TikTok.
“It was a very happy and empowering moment for me to experience it for the first time,” Srinivasan said.
Researchers say access to contraceptives will be important after Dobbs
Since 2004, Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the Program for Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco, has been at the forefront of efforts to gain FDA approval for over-the-counter oral contraceptives. Member of the Free the Pill Steering Committee. His research work has shown that women who can get the pills directly in areas where they can cross into Mexico, such as border towns in Texas, continue to take the pills longer than women who need a prescription. It also includes studies that show that His research also found that people generally do not support age limits, and that there is no age limit for the FDA’s approval of Opil.
Grossman said that while increasing access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, the 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and led to near-total abortion bans in 14 states, He said that this is particularly important.
“Improving access to contraceptives will not solve the abortion access crisis we currently face. That said, half of the people in the state have very limited options for abortion care. , That said, in this moment of heightened threats, access to contraception — I think it’s important that we do everything we can to expand access to every possible method of contraception.” Grossman said.
Other than some expected and manageable side effects, such as headaches and mild bleeding, Srinivasan said he has had a good experience with the drug and its availability so far. But there is room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance and coverage from national private insurance companies.
Free the Pill is online petition Earlier this month, it pressured President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include Opil coverage. As of May 9th, 35,000 signatures had been collected.
Srinivasan said he tried to apply for assistance but was unable to do so because only those who have insurance and do not have private or public insurance can apply. Eligible applicants must have a household income of no more than 200% of her household income. federal poverty line, $15,060 per person. Her 2022 survey by Advocates for Youth found that one in three of those surveyed cited affordability as one of their biggest barriers to obtaining contraceptives. I found out that there is.
“While $20 is something I can afford since I have a job and live in California where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, it is certainly not something my colleagues in other states can easily afford. ” said Srinivasan. He said. “It’s definitely not reaching the people it should be reaching right now, so I hope they adjust that.”
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