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FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

fda.gov

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Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#121

Post by TheCoelacanth »

candiddevmike wrote: post #12
lalaithion wrote: post #8

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…

There's a bit more nuance here. There is certainly a political angle, but there is a non zero risk with taking something like this that should be discussed with a doctor first, IMO. Bypassing a doctor does open up access, but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly.

That's true, but there are also very large risks with becoming pregnant. Historically, I believe it is by far the single largest cause of death for young women. Things have improved, but it is still quite risky.

Everything in life involves risks, but I believe on net this reduces risk.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#122

Post by babyshake »

NateEag wrote: post #76

This reminded me to look up Vasalgel again (a single-application, non-hormonal, long-lasting, reversible male contraceptive that is unfortunately not yet commercially available), and I see that it seems to have taken a meaningful step forward: https://www.parsemus.org/humanhealth/male-contraceptive-rese... Apparently a company's moving forward with an attempt to productize it: https://www.planaformen.com/ With an opt…

One thing that has occurred to me about these types of medications is men are seemingly more willing to lie than women about being on contraception. IMO that's just a reason to criminalize that type of deceptive behavior and not prevent people from having access to the drug.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#123

Post by devmunchies »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #107
devmunchies wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Well, yes, that's the point. They don't want kids at this time, though. Stopping contraceptives when you want kids isn't a eureka moment for most couples.

[flagged]

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#124

Post by zackmorris »

This is a bigger deal than it might seem. When birth control pills arrived in the 1960s, they were seen as a tool of liberation that would free women from forced pregnancy. Then the pope came out against them in 1968:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-po...

That caused a population explosion everywhere, but especially Central and South America, which were predominantly Catholic.

IMHO it all comes down to patriarchy. When I hear certain wealthy people and billionaires worrying about population collapse due to low birth rates, it reeks of that same male-dominated worldview. The same good ol' boy power structure which went to such great lengths in 2016 to block the first woman president and capture the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

It's amazing to me that in 2023, women still had to get permission from their doctor to not get pregnant. And that the thousand whatabouts in the details of that are still discussed online and in otherwise polite conversation, as if that's anyone else's business.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#125

Post by giantg2 »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #117
dboreham wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one month at a time thing is coming from insurance companies not the pharmacy.

Not necessarily. Pharmacies have arbitrary power. My doctor gives me a three month prescription for a scheduled substance and I've had a couple pharmacies reject it because it's "sketchy". Of course, they never offer to call my doctor to confirm anything. They just smirk and cross their arms.

Even OTC amphetamines have purchased limits, some imposed by law depending on the state.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#126

Post by SantalBlush »

mustacheemperor wrote: post #74
elijaht wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of that ends up being bureaucratic wastes of time though. My partner was on birth control for years and had to jump through so many hoops - Had to go to yearly appointments to continue receiving it - Could not pick up more than a month at a time, which created logistical issues since they HAD to take it daily - Had to get the prescription renewed every three months or so, which often led to delays filling it It…

You are the first commenter to relate anything like even a secondhand real life experience with oral birth control. This thread (edit: at the time I am posting this) is full of men with little real knowledge of this drug insisting on why it’s reasonable it took 50 years for this to be available OTC. I don’t think the contents of their explanations are likely to be accurate, but I think they still explain why it took…

This goes for other things on HN, too. If the topic doesn't involve programming, it's mostly just uninformed people talking shit.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#127

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

pevey wrote: post #97
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's that this exact moment is the first time in human history that women are capable of understanding "once daily". Contraceptives have a long-standing problem of people being unable or unwilling to follow the instructions, or not catching little nuances like "this pill lasts for 22 hours, so you really need to take it every day at the same time ". For a decent-looking summary, see ex. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…

How does the pill being prescribed by a doctor help this? Do you think doctors are actually explaining this to patients? They are not. They don't have time. The PE firms who own them won't let them take the time.

I would expect someone to explain it; if not technically a doctor then a nurse or such, which is consistent with my experience of medical appointments.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#128

Post by [deleted] »

giantg2 wrote: post #125
hombre_fatal wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. Pharmacies have arbitrary power. My doctor gives me a three month prescription for a scheduled substance and I've had a couple pharmacies reject it because it's "sketchy". Of course, they never offer to call my doctor to confirm anything. They just smirk and cross their arms.

Even OTC amphetamines have purchased limits, some imposed by law depending on the state.

[deleted]

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#129

Post by giantg2 »

LostLocalMan wrote: post #78
giantg2 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had some prescription issue for other meds as well. Usually an issue of the insurance or pharmacy, not a political motive. They don't like to give long term supplies given the expiration is 1 year from manufacture.

At least once she's been lectured about starting a family by pharmacists when trying to pick up her prescription which caused us to switch to a different pharmacy. It's possible it's all imagined, but I don't really understand why a pharmacist would only give one month when the prescription is for multiple months, or why the prescription can't be for longer as to require less doctors visits / bills. We certainly have…

"why the prescription can't be for longer as to require less doctors visits / bills."

They aren't just renewing your prescription? Most places see you once, or once per year, and then just keep renewing it.

Most insurances/pharmacies even have partner mail order services where you can turn on auto-renewal and auto-refill. That might be a good option to look into.

Re: FDA approves first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive

#130

Post by crote »

dmoy wrote: post #28
candiddevmike wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a bit more nuance here. There is certainly a political angle, but there is a non zero risk with taking something like this that should be discussed with a doctor first, IMO. Bypassing a doctor does open up access, but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly.

> Bypassing a doctor does open up access, but there may be risks, especially if folks don't take the medicine correctly. In related news, it is shockingly easy to get messed up real bad by Tylenol. But you can get it in a 500-pill bottle from Costco.

That's pretty much a USA thing, though. In Europe you'll usually only come across blister packs, and they don't really go beyond 50 / box. It is a lot harder to accidentally OD when you have to individually remove every single pill from a blister pack, rather than just chugging a fistful straight out of the bottle.
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