Comments on: PSA: Birth Control Pill Recall

By: Maehem

Maehem — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:38:09 +0000

Well, “Birth control is not an emergency,” wins for “stupidest thing I’ve heard all day.” Fucking A.

By: Salse

Salse — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 04:12:26 +0000

Hello all! It’s nice to know I am not alone in this situation. Thank you for all your tips and information. Im taking tri-previfem too. I looked at the package and saw that the pills were according to the instructions and felt a little better. My pharmacist is close on the weekend and there was no way to contact them. I also called qualitest but i was on hold for 15 mins. I was shocked about this situation, but the fact that te colors match the instructions make me feel better but I still feel I can’t rely on it. Thanks for all the information posted

By: amy t

amy t — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:46:01 +0000

@kelly: i have triprevifem too. according to my package’s instructions, the white should be on top (week 1), and a light-greenish color is the placebo for week 4. if you look on the outside of the blue cardboard container it will tell you the correct color order.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:36:13 +0000

Oy gevalt. Good luck to everyone affected.

Perhaps the person who doesn’t feel BC failure is an emergency would feel differently if, say, you got your attorney on the line. *scowls*

By: Ms. M

Ms. M — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:07:49 +0000

Birth control is not an emergency? WTF answering service?

When I read about the recall I felt like a punch in the stomach… millions of women possibly affected. Millions of women NOT affected but checking BC packaging and having anxiety, sitting on hold with pharmacies, etc. This should be a MAJOR news story, not just “another recall” type story.

By: Av0gadro

Av0gadro — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:27:19 +0000

morkbee,when you talk to your doctor, make your complain about the “birth control is not an emergency” thing. Not only is that completely untrue in some cases, it’s also lousy customer service and almost certainly not what your doctor whats from his/her emergency service. I’m probably spoiled because the only emergency line I ever call is the pediatrician’s and they treat parents with kid gloves, but I think that’s completely out of line.

Although, I did once have to call the vet’s emergency line because my new dog had eaten my birth control and I didn’t know if it would hurt her. They didn’t even put me on hold before they started laughing hysterically. That was also probably poor customer service, but significantly less offensive.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:18:56 +0000

@Kelly: Basically, the thing to look for on the pack I had (Cyclafem) was if the little foil bit on the back of the pack showed the number and expiration date (it did). On the defective packages, apparently, the foil bit is all jacked up and the numbers are unreadable. She also asked me to look at the pills to see that they were the right color and in the right place—mine go from white the first week to pink the second week then dark pink the third week and green for the fourth week. In the defective packages, the fourth week (the placebos that are when you have your period) are the ones that START the cycle, which is why it’s a serious problem. I don’t know what your pills normally look like, but that was one of the things the pharmacist asked—were the pills in the usual arrangement/color scheme or not?

By: morkbee

morkbee — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:23:59 +0000

Aha – thanks for the idea. Just got off the phone with them. The patient rep first tried to tell me just to call Qualitest (ha) but then passed me to a pharma. We went through the packaging, mine seem to be okay, but she recommended backup bc and that I call my doctor on Monday and switch to another brand.

Oy. Anyway, thanks for writing this — apart from the news stories yesterday that don’t say much, your post is the only helpful piece of advice I found!

By: kelly

kelly — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:54:06 +0000

I have called multiple pharmacies and even (at their recommendation!) poison control – no one seems able to help me!

I google image searched the tri-previfem pack and my colors match up but Becky – any chance you can tell us what your pharmacist said regarding what color pill should be for week 1, 2 etc? That might give me some piece of mind.

thanks

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:50:35 +0000

Morkbee, did you call the mail-order pharmacy? Mine has a toll free 24 hour customer service hotline and they put me through to one of their pharmacists. She was really concise and helpful. I’m sure they’re getting tons of calls, so they knew how to respond. Also, I would punch out anyone who said “birth control is not an emergency.” it sure as hell is when it fails!