FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill
CBSN
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, allowing Americans to buy a daily oral contraceptive without a prescription.
Opill, the progestin-only pill from drugmaker Perrigo, will provide an option for obtaining oral contraceptives without needing to first see a health care provider, in hopes of reducing barriers to access, according to the FDA's news release, which notes that almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended.
"Today's approval marks the first time a nonprescription daily oral contraceptive will be an available option for millions of people in the United States," Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release Thursday morning. "When used as directed, daily oral contraception is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available nonprescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy."
A class of drugs known as GLP-1s have been helping people lose weight, but out of pocket costs put them out of reach for many Americans. In West Virginia, a subsidy program for public employees was showing promising results, but then the state abruptly ended it, leaving many searching for new solutions.