By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Groveland Twp. — In September, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced a clarification to rules regarding who can prescribe birth control. The clarification says that pharmacists in Michigan with delegated authority can prescribe self-administered hormonal birth control.
“The new contraceptive regulations are exciting and will benefit a lot of women,” said Jenny Roelandt, Pharm. D. at the Ortonville Rite Aid Pharmacy. “Pharmacists in Michigan will be able to prescribe and dispense contraceptives under the delegating authority of a physician. There has to be written agreements with a delegating physician in order for us to be able to do anything.”
The measure comes after an executive directive in May from Governor Gretchen Whitmer for state departments and agencies to identify and assess opportunities to increase protections for reproductive health care.
“Women will benefit greatly from this service, especially those that aren’t able to get into their doctor’s office for an appointment and just need a refill, or those that cannot afford an office visit,” said Roelandt. “Some women do use contraceptives for reasons other than preventing pregnancy—regulating periods, preventing severe cramps, preventing acne, helping with endometriosis and a plethora of other things. I am not sure if they will allow us to dispense contraceptives for these issues, because a lot of these issues need to be addressed with a doctor.”
Under the guidelines, licensed physicians may delegate to pharmacists the ability to prescribe self-administered, hormonal contraceptives in most circumstances. Some examples would be oral contraceptives, the patch, or the ring.
“There are many different oral contraceptives and finding the right one for someone just takes some trial and error,” said Roelandt. “Starting with low does and adjusting from there is usually the standard that most physicians follow. A lot of adjusting of dosage just depends on the individual- some need a higher or lower estrogen component, while others may need a higher or lower progesterone component. Some need cyclical, progesterone-only, continuous, iron, and so on. Finding the right one for the person is not cut and dry because all women are made different. The most important thing is for it to prevent pregnancy, which they all will.”