Washington, D.C.
– U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced they have joined
colleagues in urging seven of the nation’s largest retail pharmacies to
provide the strongest possible legal access to mifepristone for patients—and
communicate clearly about their plans and policies.
In the letters sent this week to Walgreens, CVS Health, Rite
Aid, Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, and Walmart, the senators request more
information about the companies’ plans to provide customers access to
mifepristone and underscore the importance of ensuring patients are able to get
the safe and effective FDA-approved drug.
The letters come after the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) announced
in early January it was removing burdensome requirements and allowing retail
pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to customers for the first time
ever.
Following that announcement, Walgreens, CVS Health, and Rite
Aid said they are pursuing certification to dispense mifepristone where legally
able. Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, and Walmart have not announced plans to do
so. But after more than 20 Republican Attorneys General sent threatening
letters
to the companies, Walgreens caused widespread confusion about its plans by
appearing to cave to the threats, telling the Republican Attorneys General the
company would not dispense mifepristone in their states and so far failing to
provide greater clarity about its plans to provide customers access to the safe
and effective FDA-approved medication.
In their letter to Walgreens, the senators called out the
company’s confusing announcement about its plans to dispense mifepristone to
customers, writing: “At a time of great
confusion about abortion access, your company has done the disservice of adding
to it.”
The senators demanded clarifying information about
Walgreens’ plans to dispense mifepristone, and stated: “While we are well aware of threatening letters you received with regard
to the distribution of mifepristone in certain states, the response to those
pressures was unacceptable and appeared to yield to these threats—ignoring the
critical need to ensure patients can get this essential health care wherever
possible.”
“We ask that as you
continue with the FDA certification process and fully comply with applicable
state and federal law, it is critical that your company also provided the
strongest possible access to this vital medication and communicate clearly
about this,” the Senators added.
The letter was led by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). In addition to Wyden and Merkley, other senators
signing the letter are Senators Baldwin, Klobuchar, Cantwell, Schatz, Padilla,
Blumenthal, Sanders, Cortez Masto, Reed, Whitehouse, Welch, Smith, and
Duckworth.
Read their letter
to Walgreens.
In letters to Albertstons, Costco, Kroger and Walmart, the senators
expressed frustration that the companies have not yet announced their intention
to dispense mifepristone at their pharmacies—and urged the companies to pursue
policies to provide the strongest possible access to their customers.
“We write with great
frustration that [your company] has not indicated whether it plans to allow
your customers to access mifepristone through your pharmacies,” the
senators wrote. “Pharmacists are one of
the most trusted health care providers, and your customers rely on [your
company] to help them access their prescribed medications. We look forward to
hearing back from you about your intentions to ensure access to this critical
FDA-approved product.”
The letter was led by Senators Murray and Stabenow. In
addition to Wyden and Merkley, other senators signing the letter are Senators
Baldwin, Klobuchar, Cantwell, Schatz, Padilla, Blumenthal, Sanders, Booker,
Reed, Whitehouse, Welch, Smith, and Duckworth.
Read their letters to Albertstons,
Costco,
Kroger
and Walmart.
In letters to CVS Health and Rite Aid, the senators
applauded the companies’ plan to seek certification to dispense mifepristone
where able and urged them to ensure they provide the strongest possible legal
access to the drug and communicate clearly about their plans to prevent
confusion for customers.
“As you continue
with the FDA certification process and fully comply with state and federal law,
it is critical that your company also provide the strongest possible access to
this vital medication and communicate clearly about this,” the Senators
wrote to CVS Health and Rite Aid.
The letter was led by Senators Murray and Stabenow. In
addition to Wyden and Merkley, other senators signing the letter are
Senators Baldwin, Klobuchar, Cantwell, Schatz, Padilla,
Blumenthal, Sanders, Cortez Masto, Booker, Reed, Whitehouse, Welch, and Smith.
Read their letters to CVS
Health and Rite
Aid.
In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, access to
medication abortion is more vital for patients than ever. Across the U.S.,
medication abortion is the most
common way women get abortion care, and mifepristone is one of two drugs
used in most medication abortion care. Approved by the FDA more than 20 years
ago, mifepristone’s safety and efficacy has been affirmed time and again by
scientific evidence, research, and clinical experience—in fact, it’s safer
than Tylenol. But anti-choice activists and Republican elected officials
have repeatedly sought to deny patients across the country access to the
FDA-approved drug. In addition to threatening pharmacies seeking to dispense
the drug legally, anti-choice activists have filed
an unprecedented lawsuit to try to effectively ban the drug nationwide and
have enacted
bans and medically-unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone in a number of
states.
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