Boots Pharmacy was criticized for making the morning after pill a commodity to make a profit after it reduced its cost by 50% during a Black Friday sale.
The UK retailer’s website has an advert telling customer that need emergency contraception they can save up to £28.25 by entering a code a check out.
This sale was made company wide across many ranges. However, the customers have lashed out at the chemist saying that he is ‘totally tonded’ and “dystopian”, making UK healthcare appear American.
On Twitter, one customer said: “If this year could get any worse, I have news for the you.”
Boots Pharmacy was criticized for making the morning after pill a commodity to make a profit after it reduced its cost by 50% during a Black Friday sale.
There are a variety of emergency contraceptives available at Boots. These must be ordered by either a pharmacist or online. They cost between £15.99 and £56.40, all of them more than the standard prescription cost in England of £9.35 per item.
You can order and pay for the pills online.
The morning after pill is usually charged by most pharmacies. However, those who require it may be able to obtain it at no cost from certain GPs, sexual health clinics or walk-in centres. It can sometimes prove difficult to schedule an appointment.
This Boots promotion runs from 26th Nov 2021 to 30th Nov 2021, their advert reads: ‘Get emergency contraception if you’ve had unprotected sex and want to prevent pregnancy.
Get 50% Discount by using the Code BLACKFRIDAY50 during checkout
After photos of the image circulated online were slammed by hundreds, one wrote: ‘What hellscape?
Boots offer a range of emergency contraceptives – which has to be prescribed by a pharmacist – which cost between £15.99 and £56.40, all of them more than the standard prescription cost in England of £9.35 per item.
A second comment was added: “Oh, and so you can afford selling the morning-after pill for less than what you earn?”
“Come on, @BootsUK. Health care is a fundamental human right. Not something that you should commodify and profit from,” said another.
A fourth added, “What fresh hell is it?”
“The problem is that the cost of the code is too high. The morning after pill belongs on the shelf, for no more than £5,’ another wrote.
It was more spoutless and vulgar than one person said, while another said it was “truly horrible and tone deaf.”
After photos of the image circulated online were slammed by hundreds, one wrote: ‘What hellscape?
It was criticized by others for its American style advertisement, which they compared to US pharmaceutical advertising campaigns.
According to one, “We’re on our way for ads for Metformin and Ramipril like in the US”,
One commentator said, “Welp! We’re in the USA.”
FEMAIL received a statement from Boots stating that they are running a promotion on the Online Doctor service. This offer applies to all healthcare services for men and women.
In 2017, Boots said it was ‘truly sorry’ for refusing to cut the price of the morning-after pill in case it ‘incentivises inappropriate use’.
It faced anger when campaigners demanded the retailer follow Tesco, Superdrug and reduce the price for the contraceptive.
This row arose after the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, (BPAS), urged chemists cut costs amid claims that British women pay up to five-times more for contraceptive services than European women.
While the morning after pill can cost as little as £3 online, it costs around £30 in most UK Chemists – significantly more than in the rest of Europe.
Clare Murphy, director of external affairs for BPAS previously said that it’s a ‘very cheap product to produce’ with British women paying ‘massively over the odds for it’.
The prerequisite to consult is one of the reasons for continuing high prices [with a pharmacist]. Women don’t need to have that interaction.
‘Elsewhere – in the US, Canada, other places in Europe – this is a product that is available on the shelf to buy without a consultation and that is what we would like to see here.’
Earlier this year, drug regulators approved two brands of the contraceptive pill to be made available without written authorisation – but there are no plans for the same for emergency contraception.