With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the current climate has become more hostile toward women’s access to care and their right to make decisions about their own bodies. With that in mind, this week’s discussion is centered around Plan B — what it is, how it works, and its role in AHF’s mission.
Planning for Plan B
Discussing Plan B after the loss of Roe v. Wade
GUEST BIO:
Brandon Patchett is the Senior Director of Pharmacy for Clinical Services for AHF Pharmacy
Cindy Markarian is the Senior Director of Pharmacy for the Strategic Response Team.
CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:
[2:36] - What Exactly is Plan B?
And what it’s not
Plan B is an emergency contraceptive, taken within 72 hours after intercourse in order to prevent pregnancy. It’s not meant to be used on a routine basis as a contraceptive, and is not an abortion medication. It can be used both in the event of a broken condom or forgotten birth control, and in the rare but awful circumstance of rape.
[3:45] - Availability of Plan B
Finding it and stocking up
While no one should be hoarding Plan B, it is possible to stock up in case of emergencies. AHF pharmacies carry Plan B, and it has a shelf life of multiple years. The best part? All AHF pharmacies offer Plan B absolutely free, whereas many other pharmacies may sell it for as much as $50 per pill.
[7:43] - Pharmacists as Patient Advocates
More than dispensing medication
One thing you’ll find at all AHF pharmacies is that team members are much more than just pharmacists. Their goal is to advocate for patients, helping them overcome barriers and even sometimes remain discreet and confidential. They’re trained to be respectful and non-judgmental, making it as easy as possible to get the solution patients need and provide optimal healthcare.
[9:40] - Not Just HIV Specialists
Taking on public health in all areas
Today’s guests take another opportunity to remind listeners that AHF isn’t just focused on HIV patients. It is made up of public health experts who are dedicated to helping the community in a wide range of ways, and offering Plan B is just one facet of that.
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ABOUT AFTER HOURS:
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the world’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization, operating in 45 countries globally. The mission? Providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy for everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
The After Hours podcast is an official podcast of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in which host Lauren Hogan is joined by experts in a range of fields to educate, inform, and inspire listeners on topics that go far beyond medical information to cover leadership, creativity, and success.
Learn more at: https://www.aidshealth.org
ABOUT THE HOST:
Lauren Hogan is the Associate Director of Communications for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and has been working in a series of roles with the Foundation since 2016. She’s passionate about increasing the public visibility of AIDS, the Foundation's critical work, and how everyday people can help join the fight to make cutting-edge medicine, treatment, and support available for anyone who needs it.
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Lauren Hogan:
Get unfiltered lessons from our leaders at AHF as we uncover real raw stories of where we came from and where we are going. Join us for an unscripted look at the connections our senior leadership have to our mission, core values and hot initiatives. AHF is the world's largest HIV/AIDS service organization operating in 45 countries globally, 16 states domestically, including DC and Puerto Rico. Our mission is to provide cutting edge medicine and advocacy regardless of ability to pay.
Lauren Hogan:
Hello and welcome to the AHFter Hours podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, serving as your liaison to take you through this journey to learn more about AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Before we start the show, please make sure to remember to check out the show notes so you can follow along. Now, let's get started.
Lauren Hogan:
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the AHFter Hours podcast. As always, I'm your host, Lauren Hogan. And today I've got two special guests with me and we are going to be touching on a very interesting topic to say the least. So first and foremost, please introduce yourselves.
Brandon Patchett:
Hello everyone. I'm Brandon Patchett. I'm the Senior Director of Pharmacy for Clinical Services for AHF Pharmacy.
Cindy Markarian:
And I'm Cindy Markarian, senior director of Pharmacy for the Strategic Response Team.
Lauren Hogan:
And welcome back Cindy. This is not your first rodeo.
Cindy Markarian:
Yeah, I didn't get a costume [inaudible 00:01:25] or anything.
Lauren Hogan:
So today we're going to be talking on a really important subject, Plan B, considering the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the current climate that we're in terms of women just getting access to care and just having the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies. I think this is a very timely conversation. So just to get started really quickly, can you guys tell us what Plan B is?
Cindy Markarian:
Plan B is very, very different from the abortion medication. I'll start out with a very basic education on Plan B. It is also known as the morning after pill. It's what you have to take within 72 hours and it'll prevent a pregnancy if you have an unplanned pregnancy.
Lauren Hogan:
Anything you want to add, Brandon?
Cindy Markarian:
There's a lot we could talk about. We just don't want to get stuck in the nitty gritty-
Lauren Hogan:
No, no, no. I think this is the time that we can do that, because I think education around this is really important. The average, even millennial may not know about this or even somebody in an older age group. So this is the time to really get into the nitty gritty and provide as much education as possible. So dive right in. If it gets too crazy, I'll pull you guys back. But please, by all means.
Brandon Patchett:
I mean it is considered an emergency contraceptive, so it's not something that should be used on a routine basis for regular contraceptive. I mean, that's why it's called Plan B. It's meant to be used as a secondary option.
Cindy Markarian:
So if the condom breaks or you forgot to take your birth control, or I mean, heaven forbid rape, incest, things like this where you are not planning on carrying out the pregnancy, that is when Plan B needs to be used. You have to use it within 72 hours for it to be effective, otherwise the pregnancy cannot actually happen. And at that point, Plan B is not going to be effective. It's not just not going to work. So I mean, some of the websites even have a calculator, which is so advanced and sophisticated where you say when the actual encounter happened, and then it calculates it for you if you feel you're still in shock or can't process. It's very straightforward and accessible to understand more about when to use it, how to use it, where you can obtain the medication.
Cindy Markarian:
I guess this would be a perfect time to say AHF pharmacies are offering Plan B with our services. So you can go to any pharmacy, we have it in stock. I was just in a pharmacy this past weekend and I was looking at the prices and it's $49 for one tablet of Plan B. I've never worked for an organization that puts people before profit. We are doing this because it's an important public health issue, this is a civil rights issue, which is our primary flywheel that AIDS Hospice was founded on and now it's AIDS Healthcare Foundation. So it's a remarkable opportunity to be a part of this.
Lauren Hogan:
So with Plan B, can you stock up on it? Considering what's going on, what you just described, it's expensive, or in some states it's not even accessible for women. So can you stock up on it and does it expire?
Cindy Markarian:
So I'm never going to be encouraging anyone to be a hoarder like the Cipro Anthrax scare or even the toilet paper nonsense during COVID. You can keep it on hand, I'll use that verbiage. It does have an expiration date as all medications do. It's written right on the box, so you just have to take a look at when it expires. But the shelf life is quite significant, years.
Brandon Patchett:
I mean, just the general concept of it being an emergency treatment. It's great for you to have it on hand for those emergency situations arise. Now, of course you can get that at your AHF Pharmacy if that emergency happens and you don't have it on hand. But I mean, just the fact of having it on hand helps to ease some of that stress when that situation happens.
Lauren Hogan:
So what sparked AHF to now offer this pill for free at our pharmacy?
Cindy Markarian:
Gosh, I think AHF in general is constantly on the forefront of issues, whether it's legislature, whether it's laws, things that are about to be passed. We really advocate for human rights in general. And this has always been a debate since I can remember. I mean, even when I was in high school and the debate team and people got really hot and heavy about this topic. So, I don't think we could call ourselves a public health organization if we weren't involved in something as significant and monumental as what's going on with this decision.
Brandon Patchett:
And I agree that, I mean, AHF has always wants to do our best to help underserved populations and access to care, access to things, treatments that patients need. So this is just another example of that. And providing it at no charge makes access easier.
Lauren Hogan:
So if I'm a woman, I've just had sex, possibly be pregnant, I walk into ANF pharmacy and want to get Plan B, what is the process like?
Cindy Markarian:
Exactly what you just said. I want to get Plan B and it should really be as smooth as that. We've already given out the directives and communicated that this is important. It's a symbol and it shows what AHF's really about.
Lauren Hogan:
And so we have pharmacies in, I believe in about 17 states, we have 62 pharmacies across the country. So in a state like Louisiana that we're in or Mississippi where there's restrictive abortion laws, are there any issues that women are going to face when they walk into a pharmacy or is it going to be standard across the board at every single pharmacy they walk into?
Brandon Patchett:
Well, it's important to know that Plan B is not an abortion medication, so it is a contraceptive medication. So, contraception is available in all 50 states. And again, it's an emergency contraception option, so there shouldn't be any barriers or issues when they come into the pharmacy to receive it.
Cindy Markarian:
Yeah, I mean, really, we make it our job in the pharmacies to really advocate for the patients. I can't stress that enough. So whatever barrier, sometimes people have a hard time facing what needs to take place next or even letting their family know or their parents know. So it's our job to be as discreet, confidential, respectful. We talked about this earlier, non-judgmental. Make it as easy as possible just to get the solution that's going to provide that healthcare, that optimal healthcare.
Lauren Hogan:
And so do you think that by us doing this, what does it really do for our community at the end of the day? How do you guys feel about that?
Cindy Markarian:
I mean, personally, it's a wonderful thing. I can't help but just spread the word all the time, even when I'm not at work talking about the next thing we're doing, healthy housing, food bank, and now we're even getting involved in something like this. What other organization does this? We started out with hospice and then the antiretrovirals became a lot more sophisticated.
Cindy Markarian:
I mean, I don't know, Brandon, if this happened to you one time, I remember transferring a prescription in and the antiretroviral regimen was incomplete because the pharmacist at a big box chain actually didn't have a good comprehension of a complete regimen for HIV. I mean, I'm dating myself because this is a few years back where it wasn't a single tablet regimen. That's scary. In pharmacy school, we learn about all kinds of disease states. So we didn't specialize in just HIV after graduating from pharmacy school. But AHF really makes it a point to have us work at our top of our license and provide absolute complete, thorough, robust healthcare.
Brandon Patchett:
Yeah, I would just add that, again, providing access to medications and treatments that our patients need through the pharmacy it allows us to not show that we aren't just HIV specialists or focus on HIV patients. We really are experts that can help with the community in many different ways, and then Plan B is just another example of that.
Cindy Markarian:
And you hit it right on the head. I mean, the vulnerable population, the ones that are forgotten, the ones that do slip through the cracks, whether it's, now I'm in a segue again, through needle exchange or Suboxone or mental health, substance abuse. We've managed to have quite a few alliances with Homeless Healthcare of Los Angeles. I mean, I'm not going to repeat what we just did with the sales team, but we've tried to put AHF and AHF Pharmacy out in the community as much as possible to let them know that this shouldn't be a secret. They should know about this global, the largest AIDS service organization in the world, and all the things that we're trying to do to help people in general.
Lauren Hogan:
Well, I think that's an important piece too, that you guys are kind of touching on, is that I think there's sometimes a narrative that AHF, we only serve one demographic and that's just not the case. And especially with us now getting Plan B into our pharmacies it's really also showing the solidarity and the support we have for women. Because without us there would be no population at the end of the day. We have to give birth, obviously. So I think the fact that we're giving this opportunity to the community free of cost just shows how community oriented we are as an organization and just how this is a really important point in our history at this point of saying, where do you stand? So I have to say this is been a very robust conversation. Thank you guys so much for joining it. Really appreciate it. And again, if you need Plan B, go to any AHF Pharmacy wherever you're located. So thank you guys so much.
Cindy Markarian:
Thank you.
Brandon Patchett:
Thanks.
Lauren Hogan:
Thank you so much for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the show, please subscribe, share it with your friends, like, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Follow us on Instagram at AHFter Hours and see you next time.