DENVER — Soon, people will have a simpler way to access contraceptives. The first over-the-counter birth control pill, called Opill, will soon be available at the pharmacy and even online.
Doctors say this is an important shift toward expanding reproductive freedoms, but say for those who decide to use this method, it's important that preventative care doesn't suffer.
"I think this is a significant expansion to be sure," said Dr. Spencer McClelland, an OBGYN and Associate Director of Outpatient Services at Denver Health.
McClelland said this will benefit people in Denver and around the country.
"It's something that we're tracking as an option for our patients because we're always looking for the ability to expand access to birth control, especially given that barriers to birth control tend to be something our patient population at Denver Health has to worry about when it comes to insurance coverage or ability to pay," McClelland said.
When it comes to accessing birth control or staying on top of a regimen, one barrier facing many people is the need to come in for a visit to get a prescription or contact providers to get an updated prescription.
A study from KFF found that one in three women who use contraception say they've missed their birth control dose because they couldn't access the supply they needed on time.
McClelland said Opill could help to break those barriers down.
"I think this is a really exciting moment in terms of access for reproductive care," McClelland said. "And the part that I think is really exciting is not just that something has been added as an option for patients but that it's in a way that is specifically trying to think about what barriers there are for patients accessing birth control."
This over-the-counter option comes at a time when pharmacists in more and more states, including Colorado, can write prescriptions for birth control in the pharmacy, bypassing the need to see a doctor altogether.
But McClelland said people shouldn't skip out on those annual appointments. Beyond the birth control prescription, he said those checkups are critical when it comes to identifying health concerns early on, particularly with cervical cancer screenings.
"There is so much more than birth control prescriptions that come from annual exams. There's a lot of health screenings like pap smears and other healthcare screening that we want to make sure people still come for," McClelland said.
McClelland said some women may continue to get their birth control from a doctor because of the type of medication Opill provides.
"This is a specific type of birth control pill called a progestin-only pill, or what some people call the mini-pill, meaning that it’s not a combination of two hormones like most branded birth control that people know, and therefore is often sought out by a more limited selection of patients compared to those who are seeking out birth control pills in general,” McClelland said.
The progestin-only pill is often sought out by people who are breastfeeding or who might not be able to take something that contains estrogen.
"That might be people who’ve had a history of a blood clot, people who are over the age of 35 and smoking, there’s a long list of those reasons," McClelland said. "And so that’s why we see that compared to the overall cohort of birth control pills on the market, progestin-only pills make up a much smaller subset of what people are using."
But McClelland said the FDA making Opill accessible over the counter is still a massive step forward, and other forms of birth control may follow.
"There are other pharmaceutical companies that are looking to explore getting approval for combined birth control pills, meaning an estrogen and a progestin. So we’ll see if that passes muster with the FDA," McClelland said.
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