Birth control prices to climb at Middlesex London Health Unit

The Middlesex London Health Unit is giving clients a heads-up about an upcoming increase in the price of birth control pills.

The health unit says there isn’t anything it can do about the price increase and is chalking it up to an increase in manufacturing costs.

The new prices will take effect on March 30, that will see the cost for some contraceptives triple in some cases.

The medication includes birth control pills Alesse and Minovral, whose prices have increased to $15 from $7 a month, as well as Demulen and Synphasic, which have increased to $20 from $7 a month.

Depo, a contraceptive injection, has increased to $35 from $25 a month.

Stephen Turner, director of Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases, says the unit will continue to offer current supplies at the initial pricing until that stock runs out.

“We have a supply of these oral contraceptives that we purchased at the earlier costs and we will continue to offer that price until that stock is depleted,” Turner said.

“We are going to continue to offer the lowest cost we possibly can. We provide it at cost, so we don’t do a mark up at all on our products.”

Turner, who is also a city councillor, says the increase is because of changes made by the manufacturers.

Turner says those without health plans are most likely to be impacted by this.

“We’ll continue to offer an array of options and services through our birth control clinics, especially for those who may have difficulty accessing contraceptives due to costs.”

He says the clinics are aimed at patients who have barriers that restrict their access to birth control, such as people who don’t have family doctors or who aren’t eligible for a drug benefit plan.