Women hoping for over-the-counter birth control may have years to wait before it becomes available, even if the D.C. Council passes a bill designed to make contraceptives more accessible. Councilman David Catania, D-at large, introduced a bill this week that would pave the way for pharmacies to offer birth control pills, patches or vaginal rings without a prescription. But it even if the council approves, it would be quite some time before such contraceptives are available. Nowhere in the nation are such forms of contraception legally available without a prescription, said Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Shelly Burgess. Recent pilot programs to test the sale of nonprescription birth control in Seattle and Portland, Ore., have been discontinued.
Even if the contraceptives were approved for over-the-counter sales, the District’s Board of Pharmacy and Board of Medicine would have to determine a process by which to ensure responsible sale and use.
“This is just an introduction,” Catania said. “This is not imminent.”
K. Edward Shanbacker, executive vice president of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, questioned the need for the legislation, saying that birth control is already widely available in the District.
“Councilman Catania knows that better than anyone,” Shanbacker said, referring to Catania’s past work as chairman the council’s health committee to increase access to health care and contraception for low-income residents.
“At this point, we’re just formulating the questions that arise as a result of this all under the rubric of are people going to be better served? Is there truly an access issue? And what happens for that subset of women for whom getting the birth control prescription is the motivating factor getting them into the doctor for their annual exams? Will they be lost altogether?” he said.
What role the FDA would play remains unclear.
“We don’t approve over the counter drugs, per se,” Burgess said. “We don’t regulate the practice of medicine, or how pharmacists medicate. … It’s a gray area.”
