Originally posted by lord999
And for the "pharmacist recommended" drugs, I believe the term is called "ethical drugs." Certain OTCs were (and still are) kept behind the counter only for pharmacists to sell to the right people. Insulin, Ichthammol, and Syringes are examples of them in AZ.
...and so should "Plan B", behind the counter. Considering the safety of the drug, it isn't absolutely necesarry for a pharmacist to conduct a thorough "medical assessment" as is required in Washington, or acquire a collaborative practice agreement with a prescribing physician in order to dispense. That's a legal and record keeping nightmare most pharmacists won't go for. But there are questions that need to be asked of the patient. The drug simply shouldn't be out there in the front end somewhere between the condoms and the water-based lubricants! Not that there are any problems associated with overdosage of levonorgestrel, but it's entirely conceibable that a "freaked-out" patient could buy and consume a large amount of this drug. Also, concerns that people may use this drug as a standard means of contraception in lieu of condoms is not completely unfounded. I can imagine uninformed patients believing that since this is a higher dose of a drug found in some OC's, they will use these instead. (Although at 30 bucks a pop, that's admittedly stupid)
Beyond that, I think patients should be informed that about a quarter of the patients who take this will experience nausea, and can have some abdominal pain with some minor effects on menses that can freak some women out if they didn't know.
This drug should be readily available without a prescription because the first dose needs to be used within ~72 hours of a contraceptive accident. But it shouldn't be so easy to acquire as to be able to purchase it in the front end of the store with your bottle of mouthwash without having to talk with a pharmacist first.