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FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

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Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#41
post #26
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly. This describes every over-the-counter drug that has ever been sold. Keeping contraception prescription-only has always been about politics.

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Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#42
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there really any gatekeeping going on for this in the first place? Seems more like just about everyone who asks recieves it.

Spotted the person who's never been without health insurance.

Correct. We, the high-tech HN crowd, often forget about third world countries with terrible healt care.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#43
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you would be amazed how many people don't "have a doctor" and simultaneously are the same people who would benefit from this.

I'm pretty sure you don't have to "have" a doctor for this. MinuteClinics and such can provide this. I would guess there are websites you can get Rx through too.

That’s still a needless barrier. If you are poor every dollar counts and being required to pay for a medical professional to rubber stamp a prescription does more harm than good.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#44
post #24

This is amazing, it will help a lot of people have access to a drug that can vastly improve quality of life without being gatekept by their doctor. Just one note about the phrasing of all the headlines: they’re phrased as if the FDA did a good thing, but it’s better to imagine this as the FDA _stopping_ doing a bad thing. The only reason that we haven’t had over the counter oral contraceptive for the last fifty years…

Was there really any gatekeeping going on for this in the first place? Seems more like just about everyone who asks recieves it.

Yes. I have had several friends who saw providers at a local Catholic hospital system and had those providers refuse to prescribe birth control.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#46
post #24

This is amazing, it will help a lot of people have access to a drug that can vastly improve quality of life without being gatekept by their doctor. Just one note about the phrasing of all the headlines: they’re phrased as if the FDA did a good thing, but it’s better to imagine this as the FDA _stopping_ doing a bad thing. The only reason that we haven’t had over the counter oral contraceptive for the last fifty years…

Was there really any gatekeeping going on for this in the first place? Seems more like just about everyone who asks recieves it.

Yes there is a lot of gatekeeping happening across the board. From my wife's experience living just outside of Portland Oregon:

- Prescription has been cancelled twice for no real reason.

- Pharmacists have refused to give more than one month at a time more than once.

- Even if everyone is on board and not hostile she's only able to get a few months at a time so she has to do this multiple times a year.

I can't imagine how it'd be if we lived in a more conservative state or in a more rural area.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#48
post #26
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly. This describes every over-the-counter drug that has ever been sold. Keeping contraception prescription-only has always been about politics.

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To be fair you can’t even get dick pills in the states without a script (though these days you can get them expensively online via nonsense e-consultation).

Meanwhile in Mexico you can buy generic Cialis and all sorts of drugs over the counter for $20/mo. Insulin and epi pens too.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#49
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Consumers who have any other form of cancer should ask a doctor before use. I wonder why?

It's because cancer treatment fucks you up, big time, permanently, and a lot of your healthcare thereafter is going to need to be changed to accomodate it.

This is a big part of it. Most cancer treatment is literally "we're going to get as absolutely close to killing you as we can, and then stop at the last second, over and over and over again, and hopefully get you into remission."

You can't do that and then turn around take drugs that mess with your hormones and expect everything to be totally fine without even a single conversation with a physician.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#50
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, because it's relying on the cultural knowledge that has been built up over the years through things like health classes and society talking more openly to share knowledge. And people really don't understand all the potential risks for most medications they're on, whether Rx or OTC.

Couldn't be that doctors wanted all those easy well visits writing scripts for birth control and the recent supreme court ruling encouraged the FDA to finally be reasonable? It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily".

Doctors (the ones writing the prescriptions) aren't involved in this process at all.
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