Opill Offered at Kinney Drugs

The first Food and Drug Administration-approved over-the-counter oral contraceptive drug was sold on March 18, 10:41 a.m., at Kinney Drugs in Potsdam. It is known under the commercial name Opill and is manufactured by Perrigo, a pharmaceutical firm focusing on over-the-counter medical products. Opill is the first development of its kind, aiming to provide women with a more straightforward method of acquiring oral contraceptives.  

Leila Bahbah, the U.S. Women’s Health Brand Lead for Perrigo, argues that Opill is breaking down barriers for not only women in the St. Lawrence community but for all women across the U.S. “What Opill represents is over-the-counter access, meaning that you don’t need to seek a health care provider’s permission to get a prescription for the product,” she said. “An over-the-counter option reduces the barriers that women face in getting safe and effective oral contraceptives.”  

Opill launched its over-the-counter contraceptive on March 4, and retailers have very quickly started selling it. “At this point, since it’s still just rolling out onto the shelves, it’s still too early to know what the sales figures are looking like,” said Bahbah. “But we are very excited and pleased with our retailers’ responses so far, and the reception has been very warm.”   

Kinney Drugs, a North Country chain, is among the first retailers to carry this new over-the-counter option. “I was actually at Kinney’s last week picking up drugs, and I saw that [Opill] was there,” said Allison House ’26, a member of The Dub, a feminist resource center at St. Lawrence University. “That was like a really cool experience to be like, oh my gosh, it’s actually here; we have over-the-counter birth control.”  

House says that this over-the-counter option will be “most effective for women who have less control over their health services and their money situation.” She believes it will allow women to “consider themselves first, in their future and in their planning, while still being able to have sexual relationships.”  

For many women across the United States, setting up a doctor’s appointment to be prescribed birth control is what holds them back from obtaining oral contraceptives, especially college students who have busy schedules and might be far away from their primary healthcare provider. “There are some students that rely on the health center to get their medicines and prescriptions,” said House. “So I can definitely see how [an over-the-counter option] can help students.”   

Opill can be sold over the counter because its contents differ slightly from those of a typical prescription birth control pill. “It’s a progestin-only pill, which means that it contains one hormone, progestin (which is a synthetic of progesterone), and it does not contain estrogen,” said Bahbah. “Most prescribed birth control pills in the U.S. contain both progestin and estrogen, but with Opill containing progestin-only, it makes it safer for more people.”  

Bahbah shares that in the United States, almost half of all pregnancies are unintended. This fact contributes to why Opill’s mission as a company and as the first ever over-the-counter option is to “champion the right of women and people to determine their own sexual health journey and access the solutions that they want,” said Bahbah. “The access piece is really key here.”  

Although easy access will broaden opportunities for many, House doesn’t agree that Opill is the most affordable option currently available. “It’s not covered by [most] health insurances right now,” said House. She believes that for some women, there are cheaper options available through health providers.   

In terms of what will become the preferred method of acquiring birth control in the future, House believes that it will vary depending on the person. “I think that it’s not really going to affect those who are currently having birth control services provided to them through their health insurance and their health providers,” she said. “I think that it’s going to affect more people who didn’t have access to that previously.”