Sex and the Stampede

From the Vancouver Sun:
Sex and Stetsons -- it's enough to get some partygoers at the Calgary Stampede saying yee-haw.

The annual summer festival is renowned for getting folks in the saddle, so to speak.

Just ask Darcy Chalifoux, who said he has seen "some porta-potties rocking" over the years.

There's a lot more than roping going on at the Calgary Stampede. Many of the spectators are hot to trot, too.

"Things get a little wonky," said the sales and marketing director for the Wildhorse Saloon, a Stampede party tent.

"It's a part of people having fun."

But just how promiscuous are Stampede revellers? With the wanton behaviour of participants now a part of the folklore of Stampede parties, it's sometimes difficult to separate fact from the urban myth.

Calgary Health Region officials say their STD clinic is busier with visits the week following Stampede, and there's a slight increase in the number of people picking up the morning-after pill -- also known as Plan B -- at the sexual and reproductive health clinics. ...more

Morning-after pill now on store shelves

From the Guelph (Ont.) Mercury:
Local pharmacist Vivian Guergues isn't pleased she may no longer be able to offer guidance to women seeking Plan B, known as the morning-after birth control pill.

The National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities yesterday reclassified the drug levonorgestrel so it can be sold on pharmacy shelves, rather than behind the counter. Women previously had to ask for the drug and speak to a pharmacist.

Guergues, who works at Guelph Medical Place Pharmacy, said she preferred to supervise purchases of the drug, marketed as Plan B, to ensure women got any pharmacy assistance they needed.

"It would be better for the patient," Guergues said.

A woman coming in off the street may not always need the contraceptive and might be confused about its use, Guergues added.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association is opposed to the change in status of the drug to Schedule 3 -- which means it's readily available on shelves -- from Schedule 2, where behind-the-counter sale required consultation with a pharmacist. ...more

Quebecers denied easy access to morning-after pill

From the Montreal Gazette:
The emergency contraceptive pill Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, was approved yesterday as an over-the-counter drug across the country - except in Quebec.

While other Canadian girls and women - there is no minimum age requirement - will be able to purchase Plan B like they would Tylenol or vitamins, Quebecers will still have to consult a pharmacist and reveal some very personal information about their sexual activity.

Quebec pharmacists are not part of the national pharmacists' group that made yesterday's decision. They support Quebec's current behind-the-counter restrictions.

"It's not just another drug," Manon Lambert, a pharmacist who is registrar of the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, said. ...more

Emergency contraceptive to stay behind counter in Quebec

From CBC News:
Canadian women might soon be able to buy the emergency contraceptive drug known as Plan B straight off the drugstore shelf rather than having to ask for it at the pharmacy counter — everywhere except in Quebec.

The drug, commonly sold under the brand name Plan B, is expected to soon be as easy to access as Aspirin or nutritional supplements after the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) accepted a recommendation this week to change how the contraceptive is sold.

The proposal must still be approved by the pharmacy regulatory authorities of each province and territory, but if adopted, it will make the drug available off the shelf instead of behind the pharmacy counter.

In Quebec, however, the recommendation will not be considered at all since the province is not a member of NAPRA. ...more

Ruling grants easy access to morning-after pill

From the Edmonton Journal:
The emergency contraceptive pill Plan B will now be sold on the front shelves of Canadian pharmacies without any medical consultation after a landmark decision came down Thursday to make the drug more accessible.

In its final ruling, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) has given Plan B, or Levonorgestrel, full over-the-counter status.

This new status will make Canada the fifth country worldwide that allows women to go into any pharmacy and purchase the single-dose pill without speaking to a pharmacist first. Plan B is already available without a prescription and a medical consultation in Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and India. ...more

Morning-after pills trial in second year

From the Waikaton (NZ) Times:
The morning-after pill has been free to Waikato women for the past year and the pharmacy trial was so successful it has been extended for another year.

This week, Auckland District Health Board decided to support a scheme allowing pharmacists to provide the emergency contraceptive pill to young women free, but it's not a New Zealand first.

In the Waikato, a pilot project allowing 3000 pharmacy consultations to supply the pill free to women under 25, was funded by Waikato District Health Board from April last year. The budget for the scheme was $90,000.

Waikato Community Pharmacy Group chief executive Cath Knapton said the scheme was not advertised but, through word-of-mouth, the number of morning-after pills being given out by Waikato pharmacists had increased dramatically in the past 12 months. ...more

Free morning-after pill to go on trial

From the New Zealand Herald:
Auckland women are only a few months away from being able to go to their pharmacist and get free, unlimited access to the morning-after pill.

The Auckland District Health Board decided at a board meeting yesterday to support the scheme, detailed in the Herald on Tuesday.

Any woman, of any age, will be able to make use of the $300,000 scheme during its trial period.

The pills will be available to whoever has a need, and will not be restricted to limited numbers for each woman.

Women will be asked to provide some personal details when they receive the free pill from their pharmacist. Those details will be used to determine the success of the pilot scheme, and will not be placed on medical records. ...more

Plan B pill proposal worries pharmacists

From the National Post:
Canadians could have the most liberal access to the morning-after pill in the Western world, according to critics of proposed changes to how the drug is sold here.

An expert advisory committee has urged that the single-dose version of Plan B be available off the shelf at pharmacies, without women having to consult a pharmacist first. The recommendation would mean people could buy emergency contraceptives much the way they can Aspirin or vitamins.

A women's group has applauded the recommendation as a way to increase access to the pill, but pharmacists are objecting, saying Plan B customers would miss out on the invaluable information and advice druggists currently provide.

"Emergency contraceptives would be more readily available here [under the proposal] than in any developed country," said Janet Cooper of the Canadian Pharmacists Association. ...more

No prescription needed for contraceptive pill

From the Vancouver Sun:
The B.C. College of pharmacists is now offering women the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B as a non-prescription product.

The move comes two years after Health Canada approved the sale of the pill without a prescription. ...more

Muslim cashiers won't ring up pork products

I ran into this posting at the Liberty Papers and thought it was worth a link. It's an interesting question: how is this the same or different from a pharmacist's moral objection to fill a prescription?

From Newsday (NY):
Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.

So Dsouza was taken aback when the cashier - who had on the traditional headscarf worn by many Muslim women - refused to swipe the bacon through the checkout scanner.

"She made me scan the bacon. Then she opened the bag and made me put it in the bag," said Dsouza, 53. "It made me wonder why this person took a job as a cashier." ...more