THE COST TO the Health Service Executive of medical card patients accessing free emergency contraception is hundreds of thousands of euro.

Around 27,000 medical card patients accessed the service in 2009, which cost the HSE almost €350,000, Ailbhe Jordan reveals in the Medical Independent today.

The HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Scheme provided the Medical Independent with the figures, which showed that levonorgestrel, also known as the ‘morning after pill’, was dispensed to 25,405 individuals at a cost of €325,427, just under €210,000 of which was accounted for by ingredient costs.

This represents an increase of five per cent on the figures from 2008.

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Read more in Ailbhe Jordan’s article in the Medical Independent>

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