Tag: prescription

Korea: Morning-after pills changed to OTC status, Daily BC pills changed to prescription only

~ Pharmer ~ 1 Comment

Morning-after pills can be bought OTC.

South Korea used to sell most forms of birth control over the counter, with the morning after pills being prescription only. They have reversed this trend, putting nine of eleven brands of morning after pill over the counter. Note: the articles in English do not specify if prescription status of Ulipristal acetate is affected in this change.

The KDFA justification for changing daily administered birth control pill brands to prescription status is due to their side effects, which were listed at the Korea Herald as: thrombosis, thromboembolism, thrombo puerperalis, myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral thrombosis among others. The pills are banned from being administered to women with breast cancer, endometrial cancer, hepatitis and thromboembolism. Their use is also restricted among women who are over 40 years old, obese, have headaches, depression or other related conditions.

The Korean association of OB-Gyns is not in favor of putting morning after pills over the counter, citing studies that show that their availability does not reduce abortion demand.
The Catholic Diocese of Cheongju has registered opposition, stating that they will call for KFDA head Lee Hee-sung to resign.

In the above linked report, as with most news articles in countries where abortion has become controversial, there is the unsupported claim that the BC works only by affecting ovulation.

In opposition to this, the Drinks Business Review reports:
“KFDA officer Cho Ki-ho said  according to their panel of experts, the main mechanism behind the emergency pills is the interference of hormonal action, linked to interference of implantation.”

“”We are hoping that the wider access to the morning-after pill will prevent unwanted pregnancies. Because the drug is effective within 12 hours from sexual intercourse and at utmost 72 hours, time and access to the drug is very important. The pill is not an ordinary contraceptive. It is for very limited, urgent and frightening situations only,” Cho said.”

Idaho Pharmacist Refused to Dispense Planned Parenthood Prescription Cleared of Wrongdoing

~ Pharmer

Planned Parenthood continues its harassment of an Idaho Pharmacist who refused to dispense an order for methergine, nor give a referral.

The media, acting as mouthpiece for Planned Parenthood’s version of the story gives the following outline.

The pharmacist took a call from planned parenthood about an order for methergine (which is used to stem bleeding after delivery, miscarriage, abortion). The pharmacist is said to have asked if this was related to an abortion procedure. The planned parenthood nurse would not answer, citing the privacy of the patient.
The pharmacist allegedly refused to take the order, and also did not refer the nurse to another pharmacy. She is said to have hung up the phone on planned parenthood.  (smile). And ask yourself why planned parenthood is doing abortions without this hemostatic drug on the premises. Isn’t that dangerous?

We do not have the pharmacist’s version of the story. We do have the people at Second Hand Smoke weighing in on this case, and pondering whether the pharmacist did the right thing, and was within the scope of Idaho pharmacy practice standards. As many of them had insufficient data and background to address this topic,  Pharmer was only too happy to assist them in their cogitations as follows:

Someone thinks that oral methergine is going to sufficiently address the kind of uncontrolled bleeding that can kill a patient in minutes.

Another person thinks that pharmacists should not have the patient’s medical history.

Without information as to what is being treated, the pharmacist can’t check the safety and appropriateness of the prescription. Under these conditions, the prescription should not be filled.

There are some people who should avoid health care practice due to incompetence.

At my place of employment I correct numerous physician orders each shift. This is a necessary part of my job function as a pharmacist. I also tell the physicians and nurses how to use the meds (to avoid these errors). When I was a retail pharmacist, I obtained changes in prescriptions on a regular basis. I refused to fill some prescriptions due to dangerous drug interactions, etc. I refused to stock and dispense Redux, which is now off the market, because I knew better than the FDA, at the time, that taking this drug was not worth the risk.

The pharmacist in this case was correct to refuse a prescription from a prescriber who was unwilling to verify that the prescription was within the scope of his or her practice. Pharmacists need that information to know if the prescription is legitimate and “legal to dispense”. In addition, prescriptions from Planned Parenthood should be scrutinized to see if they really have been authorized by a licensed prescriber. It appears from the story that the Planned Parenthood agent was not being cooperative with respect to providing information relevant to the prescription, and the pharmacist may have had good legal and clinical reason to avoid taking the order. Not much is really known about this case since the info is coming mainly from planned parenthood, and its media mouthpiece.

If a woman came to me AFTER the fact with a prescription for methergine, I would fill it, (and have done that in retail practice). At that time, the drug is not a part of the abortion procedure.

I would not fill a prescription which could be preliminary or a part of the actual abortion regimen.

With the availability of Ella, (ulipristal acetate) which operates in the same way as RU-486- (mifepristone), there will be many related conundrums for hospitals which don’t normally do abortions. Ulipristal at 0.5mg/kg is used as a morning after pill. The doses can be combined to use for later chemical abortions. Expect many “miscarraiges”, “missed ABs”, D&Cs to be followed up at legitimate hospitals after the woman has used ulipristal to kill her baby in the embryonic stage of development. This is a significant reason for bringing Ella to market as a morning after pill: to allow its “off label” use and finish up chemical abortions at legitimate facilities, thus dodging much of the stigma and personal $ cost associated with abortion. It is also a means to deal with the decreasing supply of abortionists.

The Idaho board has ruled that the pharmacist broke no state laws in alleged refusal to fill the prescription.

Planned Parenthood continues to harass the pharmacist by threatening to file a complaint with federal agencies.  This  is not likely to go anywhere, as this part of pharmacy practice is governed by state law.

Planned Parenthood also stuck its nose in the business of  the Pharmer  by intervening in an employment issue in which it had no legal standing.  This organization has a long history of using your tax money  (which accounts for at least a third of its income) to harass pro-life health care professionals in many different states.

Planned Parenthood has, for many years been involved in canvassing operations to locate pro-life pharmacists.  Pharmer has  received calls  to this end, and told the callers to do their own research.   Planned parenthood has sent people to “sting” CPCs and pro-life health care professionals.   For us, there is poetic justice in seeing the work of LiveAction.org, and seeing it reveal publicly  what we’ve heard all along from their dissatisfied clientele.

*Compare the Planned Parenthood complaint to the Idaho Pharmacy Board with the media feed on this issue.    Hook- Line and Sinker.