News
Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pills: FDA Considering HRA Pharma’s Opill
Why Over-the-Counter Birth Control? Oral contraceptives have been around since 1960, and their risks and safety profiles have been well-studied throughout the years. According to the Guttmacher Institute, unplanned pregnancies account for 45% of all pregnancies in the US. Furthermore, nearly one-third of individuals who have tried to obtain a prescription for hormonal contraception report…
Misoprostol-Only Medication Abortion Regimen
Political Climate After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the constitutional protections for abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, access to mifepristone and abortion services in general are being threatened across the country. An ongoing anti-abortion lawsuit in Texas seeks to reverse mifepristone’s FDA approval and remove it from…
Pharmacists Can Now Dispense Mifepristone Under Updated REMS Program
What Does the January 2023 Update Mean for Mifepristone Dispensing? Mifepristone is a medication that is used to end an early pregnancy. It has been available in the United States since 2000 and is widely used as a safe and effective option for ending a pregnancy during the first 10 weeks. As of January 2023,…
Upcoming Changes to the Mifepristone REMS Program: Implications for Pharmacy Practice
Pharmacists in the community setting may soon have the opportunity to ease access to medication abortion in the United States. In the coming months, mifepristone (Mifeprex) is anticipated to have an updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program that allows dispensing through local brick-and-mortar and mail-order pharmacies. This change will integrate pharmacists into abortion…
Nextstellis®: A new drug update
A new combined oral contraceptive was approved by the FDA (Nextstellis®) in April 2021.1 Nextstellis contains estetrol, an estrogen that can be manufactured from plants and that was originally derived naturally during pregnancy from the fetus liver, and drospirenone, a progestin found in other currently available contraceptives. Drospirenone has antiandrogenic and anti-mineralocorticoid activity.2 Estetrol differs…
Updated Report on State Policy Efforts to Expand Access to Contraception in Pharmacies
Download free 22-page report describing the current landscape of direct access to contraception in pharmacies, state policy approaches and experiences, as well as implementation.
Levonorgestrel Intrauterine Device for Emergency Contraception
A new research study evaluates levonorgestrel IUD for emergency contraception
Medication Abortion Curriculum: A Pharmacy Student Perspective
New training program by Birth Control Pharmacist and Provide includes pharmacy best practices to combat stigma and communication guides and online resources to help connect patients with local resources.