Very soon, an over-the-counter oral birth control pill will be available for purchase in stores and online. The tablet is named, Opill and costs $19.99 for a blister pack of 28 tablets.
One pill must be taken every day at the same time of day without interruption. This is different than prescription oral contraceptives that usually have a one week break every month when an inactive pill is taken.
“Opill tablets are not for use as emergency contraception,” according to the FDA.
This contraceptive uses a synthetic form of the female hormone, progesterone. The synthetic form is named, norgestril and comes as a 0.75 mg tablet.
It is “more effective than condoms, spermicides and other nonprescription methods” to prevent pregnancy. However, it does not provide any protection against sexually transmitted infections.
Like any contraceptive method, Opill is not 100% effective in preventing pregnancy. The pregnancy rate for progesterone oral contraceptives is approximately 2 pregnancies per 100 woman years. It is assumed that this will be the rate for Opill.
Use of Opill is contraindicated in women with any of these conditions: being pregnant, cancer of the breast or other progesterone-sensitive cancer (if you have cancer ask your cancer specialist if Opill is safe for you), undiagnosed abnormal uterine bleeding, hypersensitivity to any of the pill ingredients including inactive ingredients such as the dye, and benign or malignant liver tumors.
Potential side effects include: headache; dizziness; nausea; increase in appetite; abdominal pain, cramps and bloating; and others. “Irregular menstrual blood patterns are common.” Discontinue the pills if you develop jaundice (yellow coloration of the white of the eyes).
Ectopic pregnancy can rarely occur while taking Opill. Ectopic means the fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus such as in a fallopian tube.
There are a number of drug-drug interactions with Opill. If you are on other medications ask your doctor or a pharmacist if it is OK to take Opill.
Fertility returns to normal when the pill is discontinued. Do not assume you won’t get pregnant just because you stopped the pill only a short time ago.
Opill represents an inexpensive non-prescription option for sexually active women who want to avoid pregnancy.
[Quotes are from the FDA as is most of the information in the blog.]
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
