Why is "Plan B" so expensive?

Factual Questions
21

I suspect many of them carried it, but were unwilling to sell it to you.

(Why would they have questioned you if they didn’t carry it?)

There is some concern about men who abuse young girls forcing them to take Plan B in order to eliminate potential offspring from their crimes. I personally think it’s a ridiculously overblown fear, but the anti-abortion crowd has planted the fear of God (literally) and the fear of massive fines and sociopolitical suicide by newspaper in pharmacists, who remain legally responsible for not dispensing it for underage women without a prescription.

Make it completely OTC, and this problem goes away. But whenever the possibility comes up, we hear it again: what about those baby-rapers? :rolleyes:

Best thing is for the woman to go in and buy it herself.

22

I am sorry you had to jump through so many hoops to get Plan B. But I am glad you started this thread because it reminded me to order a new Plan B because the one I had “in stock” has expired. I try to always have one on hand, even though I have yet to need it.

23

Well, firstly they don’t sell it to men.

24

Plan B locally (As in Georgia, same price in the major city of Atlanta, or the small town of Albany), at the major pharmacy chain I work at, is $39.99 for the generic, $49.99 for the brand.

It is regularly stocked at all the locations I’ve worked at, as in it is delivered on our regular truck order… However, I will mention that there are certain periods of time where it sells really fast, Sundays, and during school holidays. If you looked for it in the past few days, I could see having a trouble finding it just because of the Christmas and New Years holidays causing havoc with our truck deliveries, and because schools (i.e. Colleges) are on break right now.

And, for the record, it is OTC for people (men or women) 17 or older (so, you can buy on your 17th birthday). It is sold at the pharmacy counter only, so it can only be bought when the pharmacy is open, and a pharmacist is on duty; and it is one of only two items I am REQUIRED to check ID on, I don’t care if you are grey and wrinkly, I NEED to see your ID.

[IMHO]
Personally, I will sell it to anyone meeting the requirements, (would rather you prevent the pregnancy then get an actual abortion [Since Plan B is not an abortifacient, If you’re already pregnant it will do NOTHING!]) though back before I had my own license and worked as a tech or intern, the main stipulations I heard from other pharmacists was only selling to females (or at least seeing her ID also). In my years as a tech/intern, I only worked with one pharmacist (a floater) who refused to sell under moral obligations. I took the time to find her the closest pharmacy who had it and would sell.

I agree with its current status, OTC but behind the counter. When it is needed, it is needed quickly, however, it is a powerful drug with many side effects and risks. I personally have my techs tell me whenever someone wants to buy it, since I believe it is something that requires counseling on use and side effects (though I know I’m odd about that). While YOU might be able to use it correctly OTC, and asking for it is a hassle, YOU are also a doper… The great majority of women I sell too appreciate my spiel.
[/IMHO]

25

This is not true. It can be sold to anyone 17 or up, male or female. There is no questioning required, just an ID check.
ETA: I did work in a pharmacy in Missouri once though, where a pharmacist I worked with proudly boasted that his pharmacy didn’t stock Plan B, on principle. :rolleyes:

There is a generic version of Plan B available, and it normally costs around $30-45 in my state (FL).

PPS There are a ton of people giving factually incorrect information in here regarding Plan B, which is sort of concerning for GQ.

26

But he is referring to Australia, where the rules may or may not be the same as the US.

27

Such as? It’s more helpful if you point out *what’s *incorrect, even if you don’t feel like correcting it, so the rest of us can fix it.

28

Shagnasty’s entire post, which you corrected.

I didn’t see the initial post AaronX made and mistakenly thought we were all referring to US law, so that was my mistake.

29

Ah, okay. No problem. I was just confused for a minute, 'cause I couldn’t figure out what was wrong that I hadn’t already caught! I was worried my own knowledge base needed updating. :slight_smile:

30

Interestingly you can’t buy the morning after pill, which is what I’m taking Plan B to be, in the UK as a bloke (or at least they wouldn’t serve me a couple of years back) so this makes US slightly more progressive than UK about sex healthcare for once from sounds of it?