To think this is not an acceptable attitude from Boots?

[pointythings]

So apparently they won't lower the price of emergency contraception (Tesco and Superdrug have done so) because they get complaints from people who are opposed to it and because lowering the price might make women 'use it inappropriately.

link here

Of course businesses are allowed to make their own policy choices, but this is blatant misogyny. So they won't be getting any more of my money.

Where I live they have a walk in place for emergency medical treatment and you can get it there free, not relevant for me but I just happen to know.

Can't believe people would use it several times a week though, your hormones would be all over the place. That can't be good for anyone surely.

I wonder if the real reason is the time the pharmacist has to spend with the woman, they don't just hand it over do they it is one of those little private booths and whatever they do in there. Form filling and advice but probably time consuming.

Boots is much more expensive than other retailers.

And in other news, something about bears and woods....

My larger local Boots give the MAP for free depending on which Pharmacist is on that day, they have to have done a certain course/qualification to do it.
The local smaller Boots charge but they actually told me I could go to the larger one to get it for free the time I had to take it-so definitely not profit making in my experience

I got the morning after pill from Boots for free in recent years. I remember because I had to take it there with the lady present in a little room because they've had people getting it "for a friend " in the past and so made it policy.

Boots may keep he price up in some areas compared to Tesco etc as in some areas the MAP is free from Boots - it's free in Lancashire but not sure about other counties!!

They think reducing the price will induce complaints?

Well that's about to backfire badly

How much less are the other places selling it for?

Yes, I'd imagine this is connected to the fact that they are Walgreens Boots Alliance

Or perhaps that's just an excuse and it's all about increasing profitability

www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/17/yours-a-stressed-pharmacist-boots-article-prompts-flood-of-letters

John Boot would be birling in his grave.

I don't understand the logic of this. If they are going to take a moral stand then surely abortions are worse than taking the MAP but if you make the pill too expensive women are more likely to take the risk of being pregnant and then need an abortion.
No one takes the morning after pill for fun.

I had to take the MAP once many years ago - it was a hideous experience and I ended up vomiting all over the floor in M&S. I have never felt so ill (and then had to take another one due to vomiting). How anyone thinks women take these for fun is beyond me.

I agree that the price is prohibitive for poorer women who are then at risk of not taking it and possibly getting pregnant. Being cynical more women getting pregnant would no doubt be good business for Boots in terms of all the folic acid/nappies/ formula milk/ sudocreme etc they will then sell if that is the outcome.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I avoid using this shop wherever possible as I've had numerous incidents of shit service from them over the years. Everything from an assistant being adamant that there was 'no such thing' as a form to claim help with the cost of prescriptions and dental treatment,to having a member of staff flare up at me for asking him (on the instruction of another staff member) where I could find something. But most of all, their dispensing pharmacy pisses me off. They say they have my medicine in stock when I phone and ask,then an hour later when I take my prescription in,they don't have it. And when they DO have something in stock,they say it will be ready in 20 minutes,please take a seat and wait.....and wait.....40 minutes later I ask if it's ready yet,only to be told they haven't even started getting it ready! Their incompetence is staggering.

Has Boots even considered that all this will achieve is causing more abortions?

I wouldn't mind as much if they said 'We're greedy fuckers who want to make a bigger profit on sales of MAP' instead of this horrific misogynistic hand wringing.
Like a previous poster said, it's very Handmaiden's Tale like

Unfortunately, Boots have made a series of business decisions which focus only on the profitability of the decisions as opposed to the moral and ethical issues surrounding the decision.

Pharmacists can dispense the MAP for free depending on their training and their own ethics (a stand that I support). But due to Boots cutting staff and increasing the workload on pharmacists as a result I can understand why the pharmacy staff may have to resort to selling the MAP.

Boots are focused only on profit. That is my experience from when I worked there and there are many skeletons in their closet. The price of the MAP is only the tip of the iceberg.

Contrast this attitude with my experience of a couple of years-ish ago. I'm a perfectly sensible, mid forties, happily married mum that just had a bit of an accident with her husband so hardly could be accused of using it inappropriately. Immediately after realising I needed it I used Lloyds online service to order it. It did cost about GBP40 though, but no hope of getting to my GP for days, which would have been so worrying for me tbh. Hope Lloyds are joining in the cost reduction. Anyway, I was given an online assessment by a Dr. and a time to pick it up at my local, ruralish, branch which just happened to be on a Sunday morning. Unbeknownst to me my branch didn't actually usually open on a Sunday but when I arrived the lovely pharmacist was waiting for me there, I was so grateful to have the worry lifted from my shoulders and the pharmacist couldn't have been nicer even though she'd opened the branch on her day off. Hope I don't need to use it again but if I did I know where I'd prefer to go, it's stressful enough without judgement.

Last time I had it from Boots it was free, I had to have a consultation with the pharmacist though.

Blimey, I got it for free from Boots in my town centre, I just assumed it was like that everywhere.

Surely the chances of needing the MAP are pretty low, assuming you use protection - of course, nothing is 100% reliable - but if you DO need it, and can't pay Boots cost, you go to the cheaper place. Or your doctor. It's a first world problem.

What a ridiculous statement wrenika, it could be a very real problem for a lot of women.

Supposing you're strapped for cash. If you don't drive and it's Sunday (no GP or even buses in some places, if you can afford them) Boots may be your only choice as the sooner it's taken the better.

I feel the main point is that Boots are a national household name and for them to be spouting this misogynist shit is disgraceful. Best just to have kept their mouths shut.

It's a first world problem

FFS. There are always people on these threads who can't tell when there's a principle at stake.

Tolerate this 'low-level' (if that's what you think it is) misogynistic bullshit in the 'first world', and watch the progress of women's rights slow right down across the globe.

remember Boots is now owned by Wahlgreen, the American company and therefore probably have a bit of an anti-stance towards MAP.

Is it possible that Ireland has in the last few weeks got ahead of the uk in terms of the MAP?
I have a medical card which means I can see my gp for free and pay €2.50 for a prescription.( if I didn't have a med card I'd have to pay €50 to see gp and the cost of the prescription)
I can now go to any pharmacy with my med card and get the MAP without seeing my gp. This can't be right? Ireland are decades behind the uk

Not every town has a large choice of pharmacies. Not every woman can get easily and quickly to. doctor, assuming you can even get an appointment. A woman in need of emergency contraception doesn't care if it's a so-called "first world problem" or not. Idiotic remark, wrenika