This student health center, a secluded public institution tucked between mountain ridges in the Cumberland Valley, provides the Plan B – One Step emergency contraceptive in the vending machine along with condoms, decongestants and pregnancy tests. Students appreciate the on-campus health care because the school, about 130 miles from either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, is so isolated.
Students can get ‘Morning after’ pill by sliding US $25 into a vending machine in the premises. The machine is in the school’s Etter Health Center, which only students and university employees can access, Gigliotti said in a statement. In addition, “no one can walk in off the street and go into the health center,” he said. The drug price at the vending machine is set by the school’s cost to the pharmaceutical company and is less than at off-campus pharmacies. It isn’t covered or subsidised by the school.
Now the contraceptives are available without a prescription to anyone above the age of 17 years. The school checked records and found that all current students are that age or older. It doesn’t appear that any other vending machine in the U.S. dispenses the contraceptive, which can prevent pregnancy, if taken soon after sexual intercourse. The machine has been in place for about two years, and its existence wasn’t widely known until recently.
This idea that has drawn the attention of Federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are contacting state officials and the university to gather facts, according to agency spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said. Some experts see a worrisome trend in making drugs like Plan B, which is kept behind the pharmacy counter, available in a vending machine.
Taking Plan B within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or just forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. It works best, if taken within 24 hours. Some religious conservatives consider the emergency contraceptive tantamount to an abortion drug.
Students and administrators at Shippensburg said they’re puzzled that a single vending machine at a small school has attracted such attention. Matthew Kanzler, a senior, said a lot of students at the school weren’t even aware of the machine until recently.
Earlier, consumers were able to insert a few coins into the vending machines, for the likes of aspirin, ibuprofen, antacids and other common over-the-counter remedies.