Cheap morning-after pill inappropriate, says Boots

Boots has said it will not reduce the price of its morning-after pill because women might use it “inappropriately” if it were too cheap.

The pharmacy chain charges £26.75 for a generic version of the pill, double the cost at Tesco and Superdrug.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has been pressuring shops to reduce the price of the pill. In a letter to Marc Donovan, Boots’ chief pharmacist, Clare Murphy, of BPAS, said: “Generic versions of Levonelle can now be bought by pharmacies for as little as £1.50, but these savings are not being passed on to women.”

But Mr Donovan said making the pill cheaper could lead to the firm being “accused of incentivising inappropriate use”.