VIAGRA NEWS

Source: UT The Daily Texan

Date: 9-Feb-2007

Author: Lindsay Stafford

The days of cheap birth control prices at the University Health Services pharmacy will soon end as a result of cancelled contracts from two contraceptive providers.

In the middle of December, UHS received an overnight letter from Organon, a prescription medicine provider, stating they would no longer supply discounted prices for products Cyclessa, Desogen and NuvaRing, said Sharon Roberson, pharmacy director at UHS. A verbal contract with Johnson & Johnson for discounted prices on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo was also canceled, she said.

After the back stock of products is gone, the prices will increase, Roberson said. The remaining NuvaRing and Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo products will be sold out fairly soon, and for this reason, the pharmacy is limiting customers to two packs per month, she said.

The new higher prices for these drugs could be as high as $50, and generic versions of Cyclessa and Desogen should be available for about $20, Roberson said.

"For a college student on a budget, that's crazy," said Dr. Theresa Spalding, medical director of UHS.

UHS has been losing contracts for the past three or four years because of increasing competition between drug companies, Roberson said. Nonetheless, she said UHS was still surprised by this sudden contract withdrawal.

"All of us were blind-sided by this," she said.

Roberson said the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 is directly contributing to the price increase. This act was signed Feb. 8, 2006, by President George W. Bush and aims to bring mandatory federal spending under control. One recommendation to do this is to cut the costs of Medicaid by limiting pharmacy reimbursement.

In an effort to find cheaper prices, Roberson said that UHS has looked to generic companies, but their requests are not being answered. UHS is currently buying products from AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a wholesaler based in Dallas.

"We're doing our best to find any manufacturer to sell cheaper products," she said.

Bonnie O'Neil, anthropology senior and sexual health peer educator, teaches hormonal contraceptive classes at the University and expressed frustration with the upcoming price increase.

"It's hard enough for some to put on a condom or go to a doctor and say, 'I need birth control,' so for a lot of people, it's an extra road block to using birth control," she said.

The increase is happening all across the nation, said Scott Draper, associate director of student health services at Texas A&M University. Vendors changed their preferential pricing, and universities don't make the cut, he said.

Organon notified the A&M pharmacy in the beginning of November that they could no longer honor their contracts, Draper said. He also expects birth control prices to increase to $40 or $50.

Draper said he thinks the price changes are related to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. He also said he believes there will be a price increase on other prescriptions.

Walgreen Co. currently sells generic versions of Cyclessa and Desogen for about $30. NuvaRing and Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo are sold for about $50, because no generic versions exist.

Organon did not return repeated phone calls Thursday.