Faculty member Gina Moore, PharmD, joins 9NEWS at noon Feb. 14 to discuss how a new initiative will allow women in Colorado to get easier access to birth control.
Starting in March, women won't need a doctor to be prescribed oral contraceptives -- at least not at first. They can get a prescription from their pharmacist.
Colorado is only the third state in the nation, after California and Oregon, to offer this as an option.
The initiative will go into effect the end of March for women age 18 years old and over.
Gina Moore, Pharm.D with the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy, says there's still a screening process that protects the patient.
"There's a set screening questionnaire that's published by the Centers for Disease Control and updated every few years," Moore said. "Pharmacists will ask the patient questions to make sure they're not already pregnant. They'll also be looking at underlying heath conditions that wouldn't make oral contraceptive pills safe."
After three years, a pharmacist will no longer be able to prescribe the birth control without the patient having seen a physician.
Check out Dr. Moore's interview today on 9NEWS at noon. She discusses how this change could help women in Colorado.
