I'm looking for a birth control pill that is cheap.  I'm currently
taking Yasmin which I can't find cheaper than $32/pack.  My doctor
told me he'll prescribe anything I want - I just have to tell him what
to write on his RX pad.  He's pretty clueless about what is available
on the market, what's cheap, and which meds have generic substitutes. 
I've done some googling myself, but I'm doing something wrong because
I can't find any answers.  Please help - effective, inexpensive birth
control...  What's it called?

Greetings, 620rgb!

The pharmacy at a local hospital where I live will sell Necon 0.5/35,
Necon 10/11, Necon 1/35 or Necon 1/50 for $23.56 a pack. A local
branch of a pharmacy chain will sell it for $25.09.

I have it on good authority from one person that this pill works for
them. I hope that it will work for you as well.

Here's the drug information for Necon 1/35:
http://www.drugs.com/MTM/N/Necon_1_35.html

Here's the drug information for Yasmin:
http://www.drugs.com/MTM/Y/Yasmin.html

Before Rating my Answer, if you have any Questions about the above
information, please post a Request for Clarification, and I will be
glad to see what I can do for you.

I hope that this Answer provides exactly the information you were seeking!

Regards,

aceresearcher

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 07 Jun 2004 07:01 PDT

By the way,

Yasmin's Exclusivity Patent expired last month, so generics with
exactly the same combination of ingredients may become available from
other companies soon.

http://www.thinkpharm.com/pharma/preview/detail/index.php?searchtype=alpha&category=Tradename&searchstring=YASMIN

Best wishes,

ace

---

Request for Answer Clarification by 620rgb-ga on 07 Jun 2004 20:50 PDT

$23.56 is still very expensive birth control.  I have no idea what my
prescription was in college, but it cost $5/pack.  When I asked my
original question, I wanted the generic name for Yasmin or any other
effective generic birth control pill.  I guess I wasn't specific
enough.

I followed the link to see the patent on Yasmin ran out, but I did not
see any information that would help me.

Please give me the generic name for cheap, effective birth control.  I found:
http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm
which gives a list of birth control pills and says "... the cost of a
generic equivalent is often in the $12-15 range."  I would like to
know the name of these generic equivalents so I can tell my doctor to
write me a prescription for it.

Thank you,
Meghan

PS Thanks to livioflores for the link to the Canadian pharmacy.  Those
prices on birth control were cheaper than what I came up with.  But I
couldn't find generics listed and those should be even cheaper...

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 07 Jun 2004 21:24 PDT

Unfortunately, birth control prescriptions do not really get much less
expensive than the prices indicated on this page -- unless, perhaps,
you buy them from Internet-based companies for other countries around
the world -- and the formulas for those are not regulated by the FDA,
so you may be getting absolutely worthless "drugs", or worse yet, ones
that could harm you. Would you really want to risk that?

The reason you paid $5 for your prescription in college is because it
was subsidized as part of the Student Health Service. Out in the real
world, you're going to be paying a lot more. If you had specified that
you were expecting something priced in that range, I would not have
Answered your Question, because I know that such a price is not
realistic.

The 3-month supply from the Canadian pharmacy, if you include shipping
(and that's how Internet companies make their money, by advertising
lower prices and then nailing you on the shipping costs), still works
out to about $22.00 a pack. With the exception of unknown-quality
drugs purchased from other countries, that's going to be the price
range for low-cost generic birth control.

The reason I made the point that Yasmin's exclusivity patent expired
last month (You have to scroll down the page a little to see this):

Appli Ingred  Approval Patent Expiration  Exclusivity  Patented/
-cant  -ient    Date   Number    Date     Expiration  Exclusive Use
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BERLEX DROSPIRENONE 5-11-2001 10-29-2013              Prevention 
     ETHINYL ESTRADIOL                                of pregnancy  
BERLEX DROSPIRENONE 5-11-2001              5-11-2004      New
     ETHINYL ESTRADIOL                                combination 

http://www.thinkpharm.com/pharma/preview/detail/index.php?searchtype=alpha&category=Tradename&searchstring=YASMIN

is because right now there is ***no exact generic match*** for Yasmin
on the market. However, there are similar low-dosage generics that are
comparable to Yasmin (I listed some of them), and your doctor can work
with you to settle on a dosage that's appropriate.

If you have no health insurance and $23 a pack is too expensive for
you, because the Bush administration has passed laws making it
extremely difficult to obtain low-cost birth control, Planned
Parenthood is probably your main remaining option. You will need to
provide financial records showing that you have low -- or no -- income
in order to obtain birth control pills from them for free; otherwise,
there is a charge, based on your income level.

You can find the closest Planned Parenthood by entering your city and
state of Residence into the following Google Local Search:
http://local.google.com/local?sc=1&q=Planned+Parenthood&near=

Give them a call, and explain your situation, and I'm sure that
they'll try to do their best for you.

Best Wishes,

ace

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 10 Jun 2004 05:48 PDT

Meghan,

I regret that you were not happy with your Answer, and I apologize for
not making it as easily understandable as you would have liked.

A Walgreens in Las Vegas sells TriNessa for $29.99. You can find the
Walgreens nearest you by using their store locater:
http://www.walgreens.com/storelocator/cgi-bin/mqlocator?link=find&store=locator

Best wishes,

ace

Random people's comments helped me more than the researcher's answer.
I really appreciate answers.google's comment feature...

Researcher said: "However, there are similar low-dosage generics that are
comparable to Yasmin (I listed some of them)..."  

Where were these listed?  Is the researcher talking about the orginal
answer which named the birth control pill, Necon?  Is that the list of
generics?

I do appreciate the researcher trying to clarify answer, but I don't
think he/she knows enough about the topic to have answered original
question in the first place.

Hi!!

Please take a look on the Ortho Cyclen birth control pills that can be
shipped to you from an online Canadian Pharmacy:
1 month (28 pills) $20
3 month (84 pills) $55
http://www.canadapharmacy.com/cart/index.cfm?fuseaction=product_detail&producturlname=Ortho.Cyclen.birth.control&productid=1702
https://www.planetdrugsdirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=1702

Normally the shipping fee is $10, so a 3 month pack is the better option for you.

There are cheaper products, please see the following page:
http://www.canadapharmacy.com/cart/index.cfm?fuseaction=keyword_search&keywords=birth_control&campaignid=92

Regards.
livioflores-ga

From personal experience, Planned Parenthood is a good way to go. I
paid appx. 13.00 a month for ortho-trycyclin. The also have other
types of bc pills available, and payment is based upon income.
(possibly free if you dont have a lot of money). I didnt want to pay
30.00 a month for the name brand once i started getting them from my
regular doctor, but i found out that walgreens offers a generic called
tri-nessa. I pay 10.00 a month, which is cheap.

asweetangel99-ga,

Is that $10 your insurance co-pay?

620rgb-ga,

Having been a PP volunteer for ten years, I've had more than my fair
share of experience with the cost of birth control pills. 
Aceresearcher's answer was right on the money (no pun intended) -
cheap birth control is subsidized, either by student health services,
PP, or, if your provider is forward thinking enough to pay for
contraception, health insurance.  (If you're lucky.  My own provider
will pay for pregnancy related expenses, but not contraceptives. 
Figure that one out.)

Here are some Tri-Nessa prices from around the web:

PharmNet
http://www.pharmnet.com/cgi-bin/prescriptions/prices.cgi?_cgifunction=form&_layout=default&keyval=item.ndc%3D52544093528

DrugStore.com
http://www.drugstore.com/qxn52544093528_333181_sespider/trinessa_28/ortho_tri_cyclen_28/trinessa_28.htm

FreedomPharmacy
http://www.freedom-pharmacy.net/buy_online/name_drug/TriNessa~ORTHO_TRI-CYCLEN.shtml

Walgreen's
http://www.walgreens.com/library/finddrug/druginfo1.jhtml?id=641033


--Missy