Frustrated Quest for ‘Morning-After’ Pill

Re “Survey Finds Many Are Misinformed on Access to ‘Morning-After’ Pill,” Feb. 21: What good is the knowledge about the morning-after pill to the “only 9% of women ages 15 to 44” who know about it? In pursuit of the Plan B emergency contraception, I went to my local Sav-On and Rite Aid and was surprised to learn it was not available.

Some of the reasons given were: that store policy required a prescription, and that since it was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sale, pharmacists needed “special training” to dispense it. I asked a sympathetic pharmacist how long it would really take to train her and she replied, “About five minutes.”

Clearly knowledge is not enough. What is really going on here?

Carol Reznichek

Hermosa Beach