Following a spike in demand following the US Supreme Court’s decision to restrict abortion, several of the country’s largest shops, including CVS and Walmart, are limiting Plan B emergency contraceptive tablets, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to a CVS spokesman, clients may purchase up to three of the medications at the large chain shop, but Walmart’s limit is ‘four or six’.
Plan B, often known as the ‘morning-after pill,’ is an over-the-counter emergency contraceptive tablet that is most effective when taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse or birth control failure and can prevent pregnancy. The major element in the pill is levonorgestrel, which acts by interfering with a person’s ovulation cycle. Many persons who can get pregnant have indicated an interest in stockpiling the pill after Roe v. Wade was overruled last Friday. Contrary to popular belief, the morning-after pill is not covered by the law.
Experts advise against storing Plan B since it increases the likelihood of dosages remaining unused and expiring in medicine cabinets and limits access for individuals who need it promptly. Sarah McKenna, a 21-year-old Saylorsburg spiritual adviser and tarot card reader, told The New York Times this week that she went on Amazon to buy drugs ‘not only for myself but for those who need them since people are going to buy them and resale them for a high amount’.
‘I have friends and relatives who can’t always afford such things, and I just wanted to have some extra so that those who need it may have it. Even if it means shipping it to someone at random,’ she told the newspaper. ‘ Plan B has an expiration date of around four years,’ Melissa Sörgel, a qualified pharmacist at OTC Beratung in Germany, told Insider, adding that it is not ‘totally useless after the expiration date. It may no longer be totally effective,’ thus ‘it is not recommended to use an expired tablet to avoid the danger of pregnancy’.
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