New Zealand doctors resist emergency contraception

Abstract

Emergency contraception is expected to be available over the counter in New Zealand beginning in July 1996 as soon as appropriate labeling and packaging is manufactured despite opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners stated that this could reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies, although the best place for women to obtain emergency contraception was from their general practitioners. Obtaining such contraceptives from pharmacies may preclude getting the medical advice that general practitioners routinely provide when administering or prescribing such contraception. The New Zealand Medical Association also has serious reservations about the free availability of such a powerful medication because it could be used as normal contraception. The spokesman for the ministry of health related that they had examined the issue of safety in detail stating that the tablets are well labeled and the benefits outweigh the risks. Schering New Zealand manufactures PC4, the only pill packaged specifically for emergency contraception, and it opposes emergency contraception being taken outside the context of a medical consultation. The concern is that the pills may be used repeatedly and incorrectly putting women at risk of very high dose contraception. This could create a major medicolegal risk for a small economic return. Neither Schering nor Wyeth companies plan to repackage the pills for making them available over the counter. If the companies do not supply the pills in new packages, the ministry of health will allow pharmacists to repackage packets of contraceptive pills and label them accordingly. The ministry wants to make the pills available through pharmacies for easy availability to improve the current limited access to them from general practitioners. People get abortions because of the difficulty of obtaining emergency contraception from general practitioners. The idea of having emergency contraception available in Britain was supported by general practitioners' and obstetricians' associations.