Until just recently, drug maker Ortho McNeil was selling contraceptives to health departments for only a few cents because of a lawsuit settlement.  The stipulations of that lawsuit have ended so now they have raised their prices and many health departments across the U.S have been affected.

In North Carolina, they have a contract with Ortho McNeil for many different types of birth control pills and most of those are going up in price.  For a one-month supply of pills it used to cost 33 cents, now it will cost $15.83.  That is an increase of 4,800 percent and it has health departments scrambling to come up with the money.

Unless the state provides additional funds, many health departments will be unable to keep an adequate supply on hand for their patients.  The Department of Health and Human Services is working on some strategies to help the local departments.  The first plan is to try and find another company to buy from.  They have also been given extra funding through federal programs and that money will help absorb the increased costs.

There are many different brands of oral contraceptives that states are looking into for replacements but there is some concern about patients changing to a different type of drug.  This is because changing the type of birth control pill taken can have adverse effects.

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