Pharmacists could prescribe birth control

Feb. 23—VERNON — Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz visited a local pharmacy Wednesday to speak about legislation gaining traction that would allow pharmacists to dispense birth control to women without first obtaining a doctor's order.

Along with Nathan Tinker, CEO of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association, Bysiewicz visited The Medicine Shoppe on East Street to speak about the bill, which is still being drafted.

If passed, the legislation would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control and contraceptives, including emergency contraception.

The types of birth control allowed would be those in a pill form, transdermal patches, and other non-surgical methods.

"This is really important because women already face barriers to accessing birth control right here in Connecticut," Bysiewicz said.

"If you have to wait for a doctor to prescribe it, then that means you have to make an appointment with a doctor, you may have a long wait, and of course doctors visits are expensive, and you may have to travel rather long distances to have such an appointment," she said.

Connecticut would join 20 other states, including California, that already allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.

"In most areas everyone lives very close to a pharmacy, and people frequently visit pharmacies and trust their pharmacist and the advice that they get," Bysiewicz said.

That is one of the most important aspects of the bill, Tinker added.

"The simple fact is that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare provider in almost every community," he said.

According to Tinker, 95% of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, and see their pharmacists more often than their doctor.

"Pharmacists are ready to do this, they're trained to do this, and ready to put their services to work for the community," Tinker said.

Tinker said a few hours of training will be required for pharmacists to prepare for prescribing birth control, but otherwise it won't be a large burden. The large pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS already prescribe birth control in the 20 other states.

No pharmacy will be required to write prescriptions, Tinker said.

Andrew DaSilva, a pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe, said there are a number of ways the proposal could help women with access to birth control. He used the example of a woman who discovers on a Friday night that she's run out.

Instead of trying to get in touch with their doctor over the weekend that woman can go straight to her local pharmacy.

He said it works similarly to how pharmacists can prescribe Narcan, the narcotic overdose reversal drug, which they often give to school nurses or others who want it on hand in case of an emergency.

DaSilva said he interacts with pharmacy students, and they already are learning about how to prescribe birth control.

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