Advocates call on Kroger Pharmacies to make emergency contraceptive Plan B available

Mar 11 2007

Advocates are calling on Cincinnati-based Kroger stores to make the emergency contraceptive Plan B available to women at its pharmacies after a Georgia woman said a store did not sell her the drug, the AP/Akron Beacon Journal reports (Gross, AP/Akron Beacon Journal, 3/8).

FDA in August 2006 approved Barr Laboratories' application to allow nonprescription sales of Plan B to women ages 18 and older.

The company in December 2006 announced that Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, is available for nonprescription sales at pharmacies across the country.

Major pharmacy chains -- such as CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreen -- are carrying Plan B in all their stores and have pledged to ensure that customers can buy it at each store even if a certain employee declines to sell the pill because of moral objections (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/8/06).

Kroger has a similar policy for prescription medications but not for over-the-counter drugs, such as Plan B, Glynn Jenkins, a spokesperson for Kroger, said.

Jenkins said that each store decides whether to carry nonprescription Plan B, just as they do for other nonprescription items.

According to Rome, Ga., resident Carrie Baker, a pharmacist at a Kroger store in the town refused to sell Plan B to her in December 2006.

Baker and other advocates on Friday plan to hold a news conference to announce a campaign to raise awareness about EC and call on Kroger pharmacies to make it available, the AP/Beacon Journal reports.

Dionne Vann, director of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia, said Kroger officials have not responded to Baker's repeated attempts to contact the company to discuss her concerns.

"This is beyond a question of someone's values," Vann said, adding, "This is an over-the-counter product that should be dispensed to women without any question."

Vann said that a survey of other Kroger stores in Georgia found that some carry Plan B and some do not.

Sadie Fields, director of the Georgia Christian Alliance, said she thinks making Plan B available unsupervised could be a danger.

Jenkins said customers seeking Plan B at stores that do not carry it should ask a manager to order it (AP/Akron Beacon Journal, 3/8).