Ortho-McNeil Should Retract Its Decision To Increase Cost Of Contraceptives For Public Family Planning Clinics, Opinion Piece Says

Thousands of family planning clinics nationwide last month "went into a tailspin" in reaction to a significant price increase by manufacturer Ortho-McNeil, which supplies the majority of family planning clinics with its Ortho Evra birth-control patch, columnist Amanda Schaffer writes in a Slate opinion piece (Schaffer, Slate, 8/23). According to WV Family Planning Program Director Denise Smith, West Virginia's cost of a 30-day supply of one type of contraceptive pill made by Ortho last month increased from $0.01 to $21.01, and the cost of the company's Ortho Evra patch increased from $12.15 to $22.46 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/17). It is "anybody's guess as to why the company chose" to increase the cost of its contraceptives for public family planning clinics, but the "episode demonstrates just how strapped -- and politically friendless -- the clinics that serve poor women are," she writes. Schaffer adds, "Chronically underfunded," family planning clinics are in "no shape to absorb this blow" and might have to eliminate some services they offer low-income women, reduce their hours and close some locations. Maybe Ortho will "come to its senses" on the price of the pill or maybe state governments "will step in with an infusion of cash," Schaffer writes, concluding, "Poor women need a full range of birth-control choices and better access to care, not higher prices and cutbacks at the clinics on which they rely" (Schaffer, Slate, 8/23).

NPR's "Day to Day" on Thursday examined the challenges in providing contraceptive pills and patches at no or low cost to low-income women after Ortho's decision (Brand, "Day to Day," NPR, 8/24). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.


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