Saturday, May 16, 2009

My pet peeve!

I dislike dispensing Postinor. Literally, anyone and everyone ask for it, men and women alike, from dirty old men to the sweet sixteens. Postinor is indicated as emergency contraception in the event of missed pills or torn condoms or more sinister, a rape. But in reality, it has achieved recreational status, because it absolves the users from practising safe sex apart from the obvious of trying to prevent a pregnancy.

And today, a nerdy looking college-going male came in asking for levonorgestrel 0.15mg. My first instinct: that's a weird way to ask for a medicine, because hardly anyone in Malaysia is educated enough to ask for medicines by their generic name. Secondly, the strength mentioned felt 'not right' because for that strength it would normally exist in combination with an estrogen as combined oral contraceptive pills and if it's a progestogen only contraceptive pill it would be at a very much lower strength. Upon further probing, I found out that he was looking for emergency contraceptive pill.

Come on, if you dare to do it without condom and all, be brave and mention the brand. No need to be shy-shy and try to act smart. Grrrrr!

And for girls who happen to be reading this, please be responsible for your own body. As with all medicines, there are known side-effects. For Postinor, it may cause ectopic pregnancy which is pregnancy occuring outside the womb. If you are sexually active, there are long-term contraception available which are more effective and reliable than Postinor. You can always discuss these options with your doctor/pharmacist.

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