DC Bill To Allow Pharmacists to Provide Birth Control Pills Introduced

February 28, 2011 11:24 AM

District of Columbia council member, David A. Catania, introduced a bill that would allow women to obtain birth control pills directly from a pharmacist, rather than requiring a physician’s visit and prescription for these medications. As reported in the Washington Post, the intention of the bill is to make more preventative medicines, in this case birth control medications, available at a lower cost, expanding services to underserved communities. Catania explained to the Post that the bill would not allow the medication to be sold over-the-counter, but would allow a pharmacist to counsel a patient in order to provide the safest medications and options. Also, pharmacists would likely work collaboratively with physicians. If the bill is approved by the Council of DC, the DC Board of Pharmacy and the DC Board of Medicine would be called to develop the regulations to implement the bill.