Forty Percent Of North Carolina Community Pharmacies Not Stocking EC, Survey Says

About 40% of community pharmacies in North Carolina contacted in a recent survey said they do not stock emergency contraception, and 24.2% of pharmacists said EC is the same as mifepristone, according to a report released Monday by NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. EC, which contains high doses of progestin, can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, while mifepristone is taken in combination with the drug misoprostol to induce a medical abortion (Giovanelli, Winston-Salem Journal, 6/19).

FDA approved Barr Laboratories' application for nonprescription sales of its emergency contraceptive Plan B to women ages 18 and older in August 2006. Major pharmacy chains -- such as CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreen -- are carrying Plan B in all their stores and have pledged to ensure that customers can buy it at each store even if a certain employee declines to sell the pill because of moral objections (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/23). For the survey, researchers contacted 583 community pharmacies -- those not located in hospitals and rehabilitation centers -- statewide and tried to include at least one pharmacy from each ZIP code, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina Executive Director Melissa Reed said.

According to the survey, 57% of pharmacies in rural areas stocked EC, compared with 64.3% of pharmacies in urban areas. Eleven percent of pharmacies said they still require clients to have a prescription for Plan B, the survey found (Winston-Salem Journal, 6/19). In addition, researchers found that nearly two-thirds of the pharmacists surveyed said they did not know EC was effective up to 72 hours after intercourse, and quoted pharmacy prices for EC ranged from $20 to $500, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Reaction
"Availability of emergency contraception is critical to reducing unintended pregnancy," Reed said. Amy Woodell, a statewide organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, said, "Our survey found that a lot of the pharmacists had a lot of misinformation," adding, "I think it was surprising." She said the group plans to use the results to inform pharmacists and the general public about EC.














Jay Campbell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy, said the board's policy states that while pharmacists have the right to avoid moral or ethical conflicts, "they do not have a right to obstruct otherwise legitimate prescription dispensing or delivery solely on the basis of conscientious objection." He added that as a "practical matter, I don't know why [pharmacies] would not carry a product that customers need" (Hartsoe, Charlotte Observer, 6/18).

Fred Eckel, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists, said, "The owner of the store decides what they are going to stock. There's an inventory investment and a space investment, and I think people should be able to make business choices." Eckel said that the pharmacists' association has held informational sessions about EC at annual meetings, which included a clear distinction between EC and mifepristone. He said that the pharmacists contacted in the survey might have been confused by the questions or might need more information (Winston-Salem Journal, 6/19).


The report is available online.

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