Emergency Contraception

PHARMACY ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION (EC)

New Hampshire explicitly allows pharmacists to provide emergency contraception (EC) directly to women without a prescription.  A pharmacist may dispense EC to a woman under standarized procedures developed by the State Pharmacy Board and a practitioner authorized to prescribe drugs. 

The pharmacist must provide EC recipients with a standardized fact sheet that includes the indications for use of EC, the appropriate method for using EC, the importance of follow-up health care, and other appropriate information.  The State Board of Pharmacy, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other health care organizations, is charged with developing the fact sheet.

All pharmacists dispensing EC must first complete an EC education and training in accordance with continuing education requirements established by the board. A pharmacist who has had sufficient recent education and training in emergency contraception may be exempted from the requirements of this section.

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 318:5-a, 318:47-e (Enacted 2005).