Pharmacies to sell abortion pills

Two major pharmacy chains will apply to sell abortion pills under a new Food and Drug Administration regulation that will allow the medication to be offered by retail pharmacies for the first time.

The chains, CVS and Walgreens, said they planned to seek certification to sell the pill, mifepristone, the first pill used in the two-drug medication abortion regimen.

Patients will still need a prescription from a certified health care provider, but the new federal action could significantly expand access to medication abortion because it allows any pharmacy that agrees to accept those prescriptions and abide by certain other criteria to dispense the pills in its stores and by mail order.

The pharmacy chains did not provide details about when they expected to be able to offer the pills, in which states or whether they would offer them only in stores or via mail order, or both. They said they would comply with laws in states that ban or restrict abortion, currently about half of the states.

The steps for pharmacies to become certified to dispense mifepristone are not difficult, but they involve some administrative requirements that go beyond the process pharmacies use with most other medications.

For chains like CVS and Walgreens, the most logistically intricate step might be the requirement that pharmacies keep confidential the names of the certified health providers who prescribe mifepristone to protect their privacy and safety.

Mifepristone, which blocks a hormone necessary for pregnancy development, is authorized by the FDA to be taken in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, although many clinics and telemedicine providers have begun offering it up to 12 or 13 weeks into pregnancy. This is a step they can legally take because most states allow physicians to use medical discretion to prescribe a drug for a particular “off label” use if there is scientific evidence that it is safe and effective for that use.

The second drug in the regimen, misoprostol, has never been as tightly restricted as mifepristone and is used for many different medical conditions. Misoprostol, which causes contractions that expel pregnancy tissue, is taken 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone.

Vicks maker slashing workers

Helen of Troy Ltd., the consumer-goods conglomerate behind brands such as OXO, Osprey and Vicks, will slash about 10% of its global staff in a restructuring.

The company, which had 2,146 workers as of February, announced the cuts along with fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday.

As part of the changes, the beauty business will be combined with the health and wellness division and operations and finance functions will be centralized.

Most of the reductions in roles will be completed by March 1. The moves follow the company announcing its “Project Pegasus” restructuring plan in October.

U.S. companies are increasingly laying off workers amid concern that the world’s largest economy is headed for a recession, with Amazon.com being the most recent example.

But it’s not just the tech sector: PepsiCo last month was reported to be trimming its workforce. Footwear maker Wolverine World Wide is also reducing head count.

Helen of Troy’s quarterly results beat estimates, and management narrowed annual sales and profit forecasts to the high end of previous guidance.

The company is seeing lower consumer demand for its organic business, including a decline in sales in the hair appliance category and reduced orders from retail customers due to higher trade inventory levels.

From wire reportsShares of Helen of Troy, which is based in El Paso, Texas, fell as much as 7.2% in Thursday trading. They dropped 55% in 2022.