In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, pharmacists are stepping into increasingly vital roles, particularly in the realm of reproductive health. Pharmacist-provided birth control services offer a convenient and accessible alternative for individuals seeking contraception. However, to deliver these services effectively, pharmacists require specialized training, clinical guidelines, billing resources, and patient education materials. In this compendium, we explore the essential components necessary to equip pharmacists with the knowledge and resources they need to provide comprehensive b ..read more

Growing up in a conservative Catholic environment, discussions about reproductive health were often shrouded in secrecy and limited to the teachings of the Church. However, my curiosity and a deep-seated desire to understand the intricacies of reproductive health led me on a transformative journey from a Catholic school to pharmacy school. My early education was deeply rooted in Catholic principles, where discussions about reproductive health were often reserved for religious contexts. While my school instilled strong moral values, I couldn’t ignore the gaps in my understanding of crucial hea ..read more

$2 Million Contract Awarded to the Pharmacists CARE Initiative to Expand Medication Abortion Services in California Birth Control Pharmacist, in partnership with the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) and the CPhA Foundation, is proud to announce the receipt of a transformative $2 million grant from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information. Over the next five years, this grant will facilitate the development of the “Pharmacists Comprehensive Abortion and Reproductive Health Empowerment (Pharmacists CARE) Initiative,” aimed at significantly increasing access to me ..read more

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 difficulty doing so. Polling from Data for Progress in 2022 shows that the majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, support making birth control available over the counter.  The push f ..read more

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 the market, even in states where abortion is legal. This won’t shut down medication abortion altogether, but it will limit treatment options. In the unfortunate case that mifepristone is taken off the market, we need to ..read more

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, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an update to the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone. One of the most notable changes is the ability for pharmacists to dispense the drug to patients in the community retail setting. Pharmacies must become ce ..read more

Can pharmacy students advocate for pharmacists prescribing hormonal contraceptives? YES, that is exactly what Wilson Pace, a graduate of the University of Utah College of Pharmacy did. When Wilson heard about the barriers and costs that women experience when accessing contraceptives. His perseverance and dedication to advocacy as a pharmacy student allowed him to take action in his leadership class. Wilson drafted a “dream bill” which became Bill 184 in Utah. Bill 184  was passed in 2019 and allowed women in Utah to receive birth control prescriptions from their pharmacist. &nbs ..read more

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 care and bring them to the forefront of the national discussion about reproductive rights. Staying up to date on new regulations and their legal implications is paramount for successfully navigating this ..read more

The Society of Family Planning (SFP) annual meeting was held virtually on October 1st and 2nd this year with well over one thousand attendees. For those who are not familiar with SFP, it is a community of like-minded people including clinicians, academics, residents, fellows, and students who share the same interest for family planning. SFP values diversity, equity, and the science behind abortion and contraception for everyone. I had the privilege of attending the meeting as part of an APPE rotation with Dr. Sally Rafie at Birth Control Pharmacist. There were some highlights at the meeting: H ..read more

  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 from ethinyl estradiol in that has selective antagonistic and agonistic estrogen receptor activity, while ethinyl estradiol has exclusively agonist activity. With perfect ..read more