Hobby Lobby

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by 33girl

The problem is a BC that works for you may not be covered. That's already a problem, actually. Anyone who says the generic are as good as the brand (at least in this area) is full of shit.

Tell me about it. My GMIL suffered from high blood pressure, and she had to take a specific name-brand drug. The generic did NOT work. She was admitted to the hospital, and she and MIL were told that Medicare wouldn't cover the name brand unless the generic didn't work. After a couple of days of taking the generic, her BP spiked (duh), and she was switched back to the name brand. Then she went into rehab and got the same runaround - Medicare won't cover the name brand, she took the generic, her BP spiked, she was switched back to the name brand. Then she was re-admitted to the hospital - same story yet again, even though it was the SAME hospital and the doctors already knew the generic wouldn't work. Ugh.

Originally Posted by 33girl

And don't get me started on the OB/GYNs (both male and female) who push BC pills or methods that might suck for a patient, but who are getting a sweet deal from the pharmaceutical rep.

It's not just the OB/GYNs. The reps think they can buy off the doctors (of any specialty) in a practice or a hospital for the price of providing some free bagels for the doctors' morning meeting.

[SigKapSweetie]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

It's not just the OB/GYNs. The reps think they can buy off the doctors (of any specialty) in a practice or a hospital for the price of providing some free bagels for the doctors' morning meeting.

But...do patients really think this impacts our decision making? The free bagels are a great way to hold my attention for five minutes while a rep tells me about a new drug I might not have heard of yet, and if I have patients who would benefit from that drug, then that's great. On the other hand, if you think that as your doctor I'm either stupid enough or unethical enough to be swayed into giving you an inappropriate medication because a rep offered me coffee or bagels, instead of using my decade of medical education to make clinically sound decisions, shouldn't you find another doctor?

(I realize the federal government thinks we are too incompetent to be trusted with anything provided by a pharmaceutical company, lest it sway us into becoming slaves to Big Pharma because we were given a pen with a drug name on it. The federal government also runs the VA, and we all saw how that turned out.)

[DrPhil]

It has to do with the general assumption that women are weaker, less informed, and less capable of making decisions. That ideology fuels the debate over birth control, abortion, and overall resources.

The involvement of women (insurance, benefits/HR, OB/GYN, pharmaceutical rep) simply means it requires both women and men to perpetuate patriarchal and sexist institutional policies and practices.

[AGDee]

Perhaps the response will be that they can get some sort of special insurance through the exchange with the subsidies just to cover these forms of BC.

I get super angry about the Plan B. For a woman who is raped, who may not have been on other birth control because she wasn't sexually active, Plan B is a routine part of the medical treatment. Plan B works to prevent ovulation first and foremost and "in some cases" it prevents implantation if fertilization has already occurred but it is not as effective at that as it is in preventing ovulation.

This article explains it well:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201...eme-cou/199955

[33girl]

WhiteRose1912 - I take it you a)didn't have a family planning/planned parenthood by your campus or b)if you did, they didn't have the specific bc rx you needed?

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by 33girl

WhiteRose1912 - I take it you a)didn't have a family planning/planned parenthood by your campus or b)if you did, they didn't have the specific bc rx you needed?

Not something that ever occurred to me, tbh. PP has been off my radar for a long time. More story time: My only experience with them was when I was in high school and my partner's condom broke. I did some online researching and some calling around and determined I would have to go to PP. I was taking college classes instead of high school classes, so my days were free, and I drove the two hours to the nearest PP to get Plan B while my parents were at work. Based on my household (parents') income they determined that I had to pay the full price, which I did not have the money for. When I explained this, they graciously let me, the scared, teary-eyed teenager, have it for all the money in my wallet. The woman at the front desk had clearly had enough of my shit and shoved a bunch of condoms at me (like I deliberately had unprotected sex) and sent me on my way. She seemed very judgmental and lacking in empathy.

A few days later, the bill for the remainder of the cost cheerfully marked from "Planned Parenthood" arrived at my home, which resulted in a fun conversation with my parents. Overall I was displeased with my PP experience and the thought of going back there for anything never crossed my mind.

It should have, though. I wish I'd had the thought when I was running around uninsured. Hindsight.

[33girl]

Wow. That was a really badly run PP. The whole point in that situation is that your parents are not in the equation.

[DrPhil]

LOL @ the Hobby Lobby case being attributed to "five white men". Chief Justice Clarence Thomas needs to speak up.