# Birth control pills switched to OTC status in the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801 "2022-07-12T03:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/21 "2022-07-12T16:34:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And I think is it basically paternalism, which wouldn’t be tolerated if it were a thing men wanted access to. Not disagreeing in principle, but Viagra is prescription only I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/22 "2022-07-12T16:47:16Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Make it a prostate exam, and you’ve got something. The angle I was going for was that if you don’t have the relevant female anatomy to _get_ the exam, no bullets for you. But your way works too. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And I think is it basically paternalism, which wouldn’t be tolerated if it were a thing men wanted access to. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Viagra is prescription only I believe One aspect is certainly paternalism. But selective sexist invocation of “safety” is enabled by broader circumstances. America is this surreal situation where we have a federal bureaucracy pursuing public safety issues just like any other civilized developed nation, juxtaposed with vehement opposition to _any_ kind of regulation that prioritizes public safety over “personal freedom”. The latter force pushes back on major safety issues and wins, while the federal bureaucracy just keeps plugging away on relatively trivial issues as though that’s not happening. So we end up with this: > **[Why are Kinder eggs banned in the US?](https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/07/why-are-kinder-surprise-eggs-banned-in-the-us-16424160/)** > > No surprise for kids in the States. > **[Supreme Court expands gun rights, with nation divided](https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-guns-decision-58d01ef8bd48e816d5f8761ffa84e3e8)** > > The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a major expansion of gun rights. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/23 "2022-07-12T21:44:23Z")
Not only is Viagra RX-only (and related drugs too like Levitra and Cialis) but Medicaid and Medicare Part D(isaster) do not pay for them if they’re used for sexual purposes. They DO pay for them if they’re used for any of a number of rare circulatory diseases, and any health care practitioner who can fog a mirror will be able to tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/24 "2022-07-17T17:01:07Z")
Huh, i thought they did. TIL. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/25 "2022-07-18T02:14:41Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Not only is Viagra RX-only (and related drugs too like Levitra and Cialis) but Medicaid and Medicare Part D(isaster) do not pay for them if they’re used for sexual purposes. Good Rx (an app and/or a website for discounted drug prices) offers a coupon for generic Cialis for $5.08 for 30 5mg tablets. Brand name Cialis is $367.75 for the same drug through Good Rx. Just pay for them out of pocket with the Good Rx coupon and leave Medicare out of it. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/26 "2022-07-18T22:55:04Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > [Why are Kinder Surprise eggs banned in the US? | Metro News](https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/07/why-are-kinder-surprise-eggs-banned-in-the-us-16424160/) I was surprised to see this since I’ve seen these hundreds of times in the US, usually in checkout lines. Seems in the US you get the same candy and surprise, but they are in two different sides of the egg. Can’t get too worked up about that. You can get them on Amazon also. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/27 "2022-07-18T22:59:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Cialis Huh. I thought Cialis was an OTC thing. Didn’t they have the commercials back in the day with the goofy guy with a big goofy smile on his face because he was taking it? Didn’t seem like a normal prescription drug ad. Or was hat something else I’m misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/28 "2022-07-18T23:03:37Z")
Is this the [goofy guy](https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Smiling_Bob) you’re remembering? That was a non-prescription supplement but not Cialis. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/29 "2022-07-19T01:16:24Z")
Yeah. The goofy guy was selling something they couldn’t exactly say what it did. Because if they did say it did something specific about some specific problem, the FDA would have crucified them. Hence the “apply to forehead” ads for some substance that does “who knows what about who knows what?”. They suggest obliquely that headache or congestion is involved, but they very carefully never get close to actually saying that conclusively. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/30 "2022-07-19T01:20:18Z")
Enzyte > **[The Rise and Fall of the Cincinnati Boner King](https://www.gq.com/story/smilin-bob-enzyte-steve-warshak-male-enhancement)** > > Steve Warshak made millions on "natural male enhancement." Now he's doing hard time ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/31 "2022-07-19T01:27:33Z")
Oh, wow, I didn’t know any of that, but it doesn’t surprise me. I also think a lot of those sales were gag bridal shower gifts. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/32 "2022-07-19T02:03:03Z")
Wow. Thanks for that article. I didn’t know any of that either. It’s unclear to me whether the Smilin’ Bob actor was Warshaw himself or somebody else. I’m pretty sure I never saw the actor’s face before or since. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/33 "2022-07-19T02:26:45Z")
According to my link, the actor was Andrew Olcott. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/34 "2022-07-19T07:58:22Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Is this the [goofy guy](https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Smiling_Bob) you’re remembering? That was a non-prescription supplement but not Cialis. Yes, that’s the one. Man, I wasn’t even close on the name. I guess I better start boning up on my sexual dysfunction medical knowledge. > [@doreen](#): > > According to my link, the actor was Andrew Olcott. I hope he was paid well for the commercials because his acting career on IMDB is a bit part in a 2004 movie. > [@silenus](#): > > Enzyte Thanks for that, I never heard anything about this. It’s that love of money thing again. Why couldn’t he just be happy with all the money he earned from people that willingly bought the stuff? I’m sure he could have retired on that alone. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/35 "2022-07-19T15:24:26Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I guess I better start boning up on my sexual dysfunction medical knowledge. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/36 "2022-07-20T06:20:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And hey, maybe we could get OTC flu tests and step tests, too. I bet there are a lot of useful tests that are no harder to administer than a pregnancy test or a covid test. Hell, one time when I had a strep test, I did it myself. Kept gagging, badly, and I finally told the nurse “let me go into the bathroom where there’s a mirror, and I’ll do it myself, I’ll be better able to tolerate it”. So I did (then upchucked into the sink). It wasn’t rocket surgery. I suspect I could have followed instructions to do the testing itself. Re the OTC pills: I’d be very hesitant. Most people tolerate the pill pretty well… but just enough have reactions from bad to Bad to VERY BAD, that there ought to be some supervision. Though with all the ads I see on TV for online access to medication, including birth control, that’s just as risky. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/37 "2022-07-20T22:34:27Z")
The most recent BCPs I saw advertised, and it’s been a few years, was Yaz. I have heard more horror stories about it than I did from all the others put together. In short, not a small number of women who take it get a female version of roid rage (the hormones in Nuvaring are notorious for this too) and the weird thing about it is that the women are completely oblivious to their aberrant behavior. It may take losing a job, a husband threatening to move out and take the kids with him (and CPS reports about her behavior for that matter), etc. for them to realize this is not for them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/38 "2022-07-21T12:30:07Z")
Really? I hadn’t heard of it, but Wikipedia tells me it’s just an estrogen/progestin medication. The progestin is a fairly new one, but it sounds like it has fewer side effects than some earlier progestins on the market. > **[Drospirenone](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drospirenone)** > > Drospirenone is a progestin and antiandrogen medication which is used in birth control pills to prevent pregnancy and in menopausal hormone therapy, among other uses. It is available both alone under the brand name Slynd and in combination with an estrogen under the brand name Yasmin among others. The medication Is an analog of the drug spironolactone. Drospirenone is taken by mouth. > Common side effects include acne, headache, breast tenderness, weight increase, and menstrual changes. Rare sid... ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/39 "2022-07-21T16:22:15Z")
Really. Trying Yasmin was distinctly different from older BCPs, in a hideous way. I lasted just a few doses due to outrageous emotional side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801/40 "2022-07-21T19:33:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They DO pay for them if they’re used for any of a number of rare circulatory diseases I actually asked my doctor about this because I’m having circulation problems with my feet. She wrote a prescription but the insurance company wouldn’t pay for it. I’m going to see if a pharmacy would just sell me a couple of them to try. that stuffs expensive. I don’t think birth control pills can be sold OTC because they are hazardous if not done properly. But a teledoc should be able to prescribe them and that could be funded so that it’s free. Essentially it would make it an OTC drug. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-pills-switched-to-otc-status-in-the-u-s/967801.md?page=3)