Article published October 15, 2007
PRESCRIPTION PLAN
Birth-control pills added to pharmacies' generic list
Kimberly Johnson, pharmacy director at Bassett’s Market in Perrysburg, looks for a generic drug and fills a prescription.
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THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT
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By JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
Low-cost generic prescription drugs available in the Toledo area for a year have been expanded, possibly into controversy.
Birth-control pills and fertility pills have been added to more than 300 popular generic drugs sold for $4 to customers at Kroger Co., Wal-Mart, Target Corp., Giant Eagle Co., and others. The additions sell for $9 per 30-day prescription.
Kroger, which began the low-cost drug program last week, will sell Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri-Cyclen, which account for 20 percent of oral contraception prescriptions in the nation.
Wal-Mart announced Sept. 27 it will sell two variations, Sprintec and Tri-Sprintec, for $9. Bassett’s Markets, a local grocer with stores in Perrysburg and Port Clinton, last week said it too would offer the low-cost drugs, including Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri-Cyclen and fertility drug Clomiphene.
“Our philosophy is we carry a variety of products that some people might see as personal decisions,” Kroger spokesman Meghan Glynn said.
Bassett’s and large chains have added low-cost birth-control and fertility pills.
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Its pharmacies sell the generics and the new program just makes them cheaper, she said. “There is a competitive element to this,” Ms. Glynn said.
But Karen Brauer, head of the Pharmacists for Life organization in Ohio, said some pharmacists do not dispense any medications for birth control. She said she was fired in 1996 from a Kmart pharmacy in Delhi, Ohio, for refusing to fill birth-control prescriptions.
“A good deal of members are the most conservative and would not opt to dispense anything which has that possible intent [of preventing life],” she said.
About 11 million women in America, most of them under age 40, use oral contraceptives. Some pharmacists have objected to such prescriptions, but most of those cases involved dispensing the Plan B “morning-after” emergency contraception pill that can prevent fertilization if taken within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse.
Some company-paid health-care plans don’t cover birth-control medicine. Those that do cover the generics charge $10 per prescription. Without coverage, the cost is about $30.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, had tested low-cost generic drugs in Illinois, Nebraska, and New Mexico, but did not offer family-planning drugs there.
Mike Bassett, owner of Bassett’s Markets, said his low-cost program started because of customer requests.
As for birth-control pills, he said it is a consumer choice.
“We will sell the drug. If a person wants to buy it, that’s their business, but they are generic and they’re already widely used by people,” he said.
Deisha Galberth, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said its addition of birth-control pills and other drugs shows the company is trying to drive down health-care costs and help customers live healthier lives. The chain store has sold prescription birth control and fertility drugs.
“The [recent] announcement made them more affordable for women,” Ms. Galberth said. “Millions of women today will be saying, ‘It’s about time.’”
Johnetta McCollough, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio, said $9 generic birth-control pills will help women with no or limited health insurance.
But, she said, “I’m sure there is a marketing strategy behind Wal-Mart and Kroger offering these. It’s called a loss leader.”
On the plus side, Planned Parenthood favors women having low-cost access to birth-control medicines, she said. But as a practical matter, some women have reported increased side effects with generics.
Among the groups opposed to all artificial birth-control pills is the Catholic Church.
“The Catholic Church is about natural family planning, but we also realize that people have to make choices,” said Sally Oberski, director of communications for the Toledo Catholic Diocese.
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.
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