Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2022
Abstract
Despite some of the modest advances made in reproductive rights and reproductive justice in the twentieth and early-twenty-first century in the United States, many vestiges of paternalism and overregulation of female bodies remain. This Article tackles the issue of the requirement of pelvic exams and Pap smear tests for the prescription of oral contraceptives, otherwise known as the birth control pill ("the Pill"). Though state legislators are somewhat to blame for this exercise of control over female bodies for women to receive access to contraceptives, it is the medical profession itself that is at the core of this ill. Owing to this barrier imposed by those tasked with caring for others, women in need of contraceptives may not be able to receive them because of fear of pelvic exams, the cost of such exams, or the inability to take the time for lengthy appointments.
It is one thing to require examinations for prescription medications where doing so is necessary to ensure the safe and effective use of the drug. It is quite another to impose an examination on someone despite there existing no evidence that the examination is necessary for the prescription of the sought medication. Notwithstanding this near-axiomatic truth, countless physicians in the United States require or strongly suggest a pelvic examination before prescribing the Pill or writing a refill prescription for it. Because this is tantamount to ordering an oft embarrassing and uncomfortable examination without a purpose, litigants should challenge this practice in the courts as medical malpractice.
The harm described in this Article is not abstract. Unfortunately, for many women face serious repercussions for healthcare workers' decisions. Pelvic examinations and Pap smear tests approximately cost one-hundred and twenty-five dollars and forty dollars respectively. Moreover, any laboratory tests for the presence of sexually transmitted diseases may cost anywhere from fifty to two hundred dollars. However, a visit to a physician without these examinations cost roughly less than one hundred dollars. Consequently, for individuals without insurance, which is around nine percent of the population of the United States, these examinations may be cost-prohibitive.
This Article addresses this issue in two steps. First, in Part II, it outlines the evidence - or rather, the lack thereof - regarding the need for pelvic examinations to prescribe birth control. Second, in Part III, it contemplates the possibility that when caregivers require pelvic examinations for the Pill, they are committing medical malpractice. As part of this analysis, this Article advocates for medical malpractice litigation against physicians who continue this unnecessary and harmful practice. Part IV briefly surveys ways private and non-profit entities are attempting to provide access to the Pill online and without a visit to a doctor's office. Finally, Part V concludes this Article.
Recommended Citation
Bailey D. Barnes,
A Pill's Ransom: Healthcare Liability Litigation for Unnecessary Pelvic Examinations for Birth Control Pills, 11 Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice 1
(2022).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/1287