As mentioned before on this site, there is a growing movement urging the U.S. Food and Drug administration to make so-called morning-after contraception available over-the-counter. A couple of states have already passed laws allowing pharmacists to prescribe the pill directly without requiring that a woman see a doctor first, but the drug still requires seeing a doctor and obtaining a prescription all within a 72 hour timeframe.
Some web sites, however, are taking matters into their own hands and selling the drugs online in a move that is certain to spark controversy and intense scrutiny.
Forty-seven Planned Parenthood offices already prescribe morning-after birth control over the phone, and Planned Parenthood of Chicago moved into online prescriptions in January. So far it has issued more than 500 prescriptions. Women visit a web site, enter medical information, which a nurse practitioner then reviews. If the nurse signs off, the prescription is sent off to whatever pharmacy the woman requesting the prescription selected. Planned Parenthood of Georgia has apparently been using such an online system since last summer.
According to an Associated Press story, the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations is currently conducting an investigation into whether or not the Planned Parenthood of Chicago’s web site violates a state medical practices law since drugs are prescribed without the consultation of a physician. “Our position is it doesn’t matter what the drug is,” said Professional Regulations agency spokesman Tony Sanders, “If it’s a prescription drug, you can’t prescribe it to somebody unless you have a relationship with them.”
Federal and state governments led a much publicized crackdown on Internet sites selling Viagra through a similar web-based diagnosis, and efforts to sell morning-after pills are likely to begin receiving the same sort of scrutiny. All the more reason for the FDA to approve these drugs for over-the-counter sale as soon as possible.
Sources:
Condom broke? Head for the web. Julia Scheeres, Wired News, June 19, 2001.
‘Morning-after’ pills offered online. Bennie M. Currie, The Associated Press, June 18, 2001.
Doc urges ‘morning-after’ pill. Lindsey Tanner, The Associated Press, April 30, 2001.