Boots apologises after Labour MPs write to express 'deep concern' over its refusal to reduce emergency contraception cost

Boots has apologised for the language it used after Labour MPs wrote an open letter to its chief pharmacist to express “deep concern” about the company’s refusal to reduce the cost of emergency contraception amid calls for a boycott.

Jess Phillips said the firm was "infantilising women" as the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party backed a campaign by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), a leading provider of abortion care.

Tesco and Superdrug have already agreed to halve the price of the morning-after pill as a result of the BPAS campaign but Boots has so far resisted the calls.

On Thursday, Boots said it would not lower the cost of its product, saying that the high street chemist did not want to be accused of “incentivising inappropriate use”.

But on Friday evening a statement from the company said it "apologised" for its "poor choice of words".

The pharmacy chain charges £26.75 for a generic version of the pill, double the charge levied by both Tesco and Superdrug.

Campaigning charity BPAS has been pressuring shops to reduce the price of the pill, which is available for as little as £5.50 in France.

In a letter to Boots' chief pharmacist Marc Donovan, Clare Murphy, the director of external affairs at BPAS, said: "Generic versions of Levonelle can now be bought by pharmacies for as little as £1.50, but these savings are not being passed onto women" and asked Boots if it would reduce its prices.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/21/labour-mps-write-boots-express-deep-concern-refusal-reduce-emergency/

The reason first given, that its higher price will stop women using the drug more lavishly (I am paraphrasing) is a bloody insult to women.

What they have done is boosted their profits unreasonably...making money out of desperate women.

If the price is too low, women will use it as contraception though, which is not good.

Raggamuffin wrote:If the price is too low, women will use it as contraception though, which is not good.

You are right that it is not good to use regular.
Doctors I know that work on NHS 111 have regulars who call up every couple of weeks on a Saturday looking to get this on a prescription over the phone. They say its really not good to have another in such a short space of time.

The price should be far lower and that it should only be given by prescription.

it's better it be available, even if less than ideal for regular use.

surely this will just mean loss of sales for boots?
(I assume boots is a shop?)

Thorin wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:If the price is too low, women will use it as contraception though, which is not good.

You are right that it is not good to use regular.
Doctors I know that work on NHS 111 have regulars who call up every couple of weeks on a Saturday looking to get this on a prescription over the phone. They say its really not good to have another in such a short space of time.

The price should be far lower and that it should only be given by prescription.

It used to be on prescription, but I guess the problem with that is that the woman has to get an appointment at the doctors, and time is of the essence in this scenario. On the other hand, nobody should be able to just buy it all the time - it's a powerful drug.

veya_victaous wrote:it's better it be available, even if less than ideal for regular use.

surely this will just mean loss of sales for boots?
(I assume boots is a shop?)

Yes its probably the biggest chemist nationwide.....and most of the stuff they sell is overpriced.