California, Oregon to Allow Pharmacists to Dispense Birth Control Under New Rules

California and Oregon will soon become the only two states in the country where patients can obtain hormonal contraceptives directly from pharmacists without a prescription. Both Oregon’s House Bill (HB) 2879 (PDF) and revisions to California’s Code of Regulations, require pharmacists to review a brief health questionnaire before dispensing the contraceptives. In California, pharmacists must also take a patient’s blood pressure. After proper medication counseling, pharmacists will refer the patient to her primary health care provider. The California rules will go into effect on October 1, 2015, and Oregon’s law will go into effect in January 2016, reports Kaiser Health News.