Step right up to the pharmacy counter, answer 23 questions and walk out with birth control pills.
That’s all it takes for women enrolled in a study that is believed to be the first effort in the nation to offer hormonal contraceptives at drugstores without a doctor’s prescription.
The University of Washington project aims to find out if women and pharmacists are comfortable with drugstore delivery of birth control pills, patches and vaginal rings.
That doesn’t mean women should stop going to the doctor for annual checkups to guard against sexually transmitted diseases and other problems. But most medical organizations agree it is not necessary to have a pelvic exam to get birth control pills and the like.
The best situation is for every woman to have immediate access to medical care, “but there are women who don’t have access, and there are some barriers and difficulties,” said Dr. Robert Palmer Jr., an obstetrician-gynecologist on the study’s advisory board. Palmer also is state chairman for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The study also is embraced by family planning and population control experts.
James Trussell, director of the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, is hoping the idea will spread.
“It’s a terrific idea. Seeing a pharmacist is just fine for these methods,” he said, noting that half the pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended.
More than 50 women have enrolled since the study was launched Feb. 23 by the UW School of Pharmacy and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology with funding from the National Institutes of Health. Researchers hope to enroll 300 women.
———-
Compiled from RedEye news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
