First over-the-counter birth control pill approved by the FDA

BOSTON - For the first time ever, a birth control pill will be available over-the-counter in the United States.

Birth control pills are available without a prescription in other parts of the world, and now the FDA has finally approved the nation's first contraceptive pill that will be sold in drugstores without a prescription. 

The once-a-day pill, Opill, has been around for decades and has a clear safety record. Oral contraceptives remain the most common form of birth control in the U.S. but they have always required a prescription in this country, making it difficult for many girls and women to get it.

It's estimated that 45-percent of pregnancies are unintended, hopefully making a pill readily available around the country will reduce barriers and give women and girls greater access to safe and effective contraception. Opill is expected to hit store shelves early next year.

In:
• Health
• FDA
• Birth Control

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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