Louisiana
Some Louisiana patients struggle to fill reproductive care prescriptions under new drug law • Louisiana Illuminator
A Lafayette woman needed to get a uterine polyp removed so that she could get pregnant. A woman from northwest Louisiana and another from New Orleans wanted to take long-term birth control measures
What do these three women have in common? They all need misoprostol to soften their cervix before undergoing routine medical procedures, and they all faced challenges trying to fill their prescriptions.
A new law reclassifying misoprostol and mifepristone as controlled dangerous substances took effect Oct. 1 in Louisiana. The medications were reclassified because they can be used in medication abortions, but they have several other prescribed uses. Misoprostol is often used ahead of medical procedures to soften the cervix and when women bleed profusely after delivery.
The new designation requires medical facilities and pharmacies to securely store the drugs and closely record their dispensing and use.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
In May, Gov. Jeff Landry approved a bill from state Sen. Thomas Pressly, a Shreveport Republican, to reclassify the drugs. Since then, doctors have voiced concerns that the law could lead to delays of care for patients, both in hospital settings and for outpatient procedures.
Misoprostol has already been pulled off of postpartum hemorrhage carts in Louisiana and locked away in medical cabinets outside of patient rooms.
A New Orleans-area OB-GYN spoke Friday with the Illuminator about an experience she had with a patient earlier in the day that began the night prior. She asked that her name not be used because her employer did not grant her permission to speak with a reporter.
“I had set her up for an office hysteroscopy to remove [a uterine] polyp. But in preparation for that, she needed to take a medication called misoprostol in order to help open her cervix up so that I could do the procedure more safely and more comfortably,” the doctor said.
The patient was traveling from Lafayette for a minimally invasive medical procedure, and the doctor called in a misoprostol prescription a few days ahead of the procedure. But when the patient went to pick it up Thursday night at her local pharmacy, she was informed her prescription couldn’t be filled.
“She’s just trying to get this procedure done in order to get pregnant,” the doctor said, exasperated. “They told her they do not carry the medication at all anymore. She was very upset.”
An independent pharmacy shifts protocol
Reached for comment Friday, a pharmacist at the Lafayette drug store explained he hasn’t regularly stocked misoprostol for a decade because his small independent drugstore does not see a lot of demand for the drug. When they receive a prescription for misoprostol, they usually get the medication – often just one or two pills – from a larger pharmacy nearby.
But when the pharmacist went to do that in this case, he was told the drug was a controlled substance, and this was no longer an option because of how the medication needs to be counted.
The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, the profession’s state regulatory body, mentioned the new law in their July newsletter, and the state health department sent guidelines on the new law to pharmacies in early September. The Lafayette pharmacist admitted he had not been aware of them until this week.
The Illuminator is not identifying pharmacists or small businesses in this story for security reasons.
“Sometimes pharmacies may borrow from one another. But it being a controlled substance, you can’t do that,” the Lafayette pharmacist said. “You’d have to replace it with the exact same medication.”
The pharmacist said this means he will no longer fill misoprostol prescriptions, as it does not make sense for him economically because he rarely gets requests for it.
The OB-GYN sent the prescription Friday morning to a New Orleans-area Walmart pharmacist, suspecting it would be easier to access at a chain pharmacy. But when the patient showed up, she was told the medication was not available.
“She was like, ‘This is ridiculous,’”the doctor said. “She had to drive to all these places — she’s chasing it.”
The doctor then called fellow OB-GYNs in the area to find out if there were specific pharmacies they have used recently to fill misoprostol prescriptions. She eventually reached a local CVS that had the medication in stock. The patient’s procedure was delayed until later in the day because the doctor said she was fortunate to have flexibility in her schedule to accommodate the change.
Need to get in touch?
Have a news tip?
However, the doctor said she was frustrated that she, her staff and the patient had to dedicate time to hunting down the medication, which is on the World Health Organization’s core list of essential medicines.
Louisiana is the only state to designate misoprostol and mifepristone controlled dangerous substances, a designation most often used for highly addictive painkillers.
“This has such a huge impact on our practice,” she said. She plans to talk to her employer about whether or not they need to adjust their protocols to store the medication onsite.
Major pharmacies insist they haven’t changed policy
A pharmacist at the New Orleans-area Walmart where the patient was unable to get her misoprostol prescription filled told the Illuminator late Friday afternoon the medication was not currently in stock but could be ordered and delivered from another pharmacy with the correct diagnosis code — a process that usually takes a day.
Corporate representatives for Walmart did not respond to requests for comment.
Amy Thibault, a CVS spokeswoman, said Louisiana’s new regulations haven’t affected how the pharmacy chain handles the targeted drugs.
“There’s been no impact to misoprostol supply or how we stock the medication due to the state law,” Thibault said.
A Walgreens spokesman said the company has had no issues with the supply of misoprostol to any of its Louisiana stores.
“There has been no change in policy” since the new law took effect, Fraser Engerman said. “Stock is based on sales at each of our stores. If there is low volume at a store, it can be ordered for next-day delivery to the store.”
‘Women are not safe in Louisiana’: New Orleans leaders want pregnancy care drug law reversed
Dr. Nicole Freehill, New Orleans OB-GYN, said obtaining misoprostol was challenging immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, effectively ending elective abortions in the state of Louisiana.
“We did encounter push back immediately after … but that improved over time and working with pharmacists directly to reassure them we were not prescribing it for ‘illegal’ uses,” Freehill said in a text message. “I am fearful this new law will destroy a lot of that work.”
On Sept. 30, Freehill said she encouraged a patient with an upcoming intrauterine device (IUD) insertion to fill her misoprostol prescription that day — before the new law took effect Oct. 1 — in case of any confusion. But when Freehill sent the prescription to a pharmacy, she said the patient’s insurance provider requested prior authorization.
“Prior authorization is another level an insurance company puts in place, often due to the cost of a medication or service, it’s usually for brand-name drugs or imaging like MRIs,” Freehill said. “I have never seen one for misoprostol, neither had the pharmacist that I talked to.”
The patient was able to obtain the prescription but had to pay out of pocket for it in order to avoid waiting for the prior authorization, said Freehill, who reported the issue to the New Orleans Health Department. City health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno is conducting an impact study on the new law to determine if it’s leading to care delays or difficulties.
Avegno described the new state law as a “poorly conceived, medically and scientifically baseless law” and said she’s heard from patients and providers across the state about outpatient access to misoprostol being “delayed and denied.” The reasons behind the barriers they face are varied and include pharmacies no longer carrying the medication as well as prolonged waits for prescriptions to be processed, she said.
“As hundreds of health care professionals have warned for months, this has disrupted women’s ability to have routine procedures, manage miscarriages, and even receive fertility treatments,” Avegno said.
‘It’s really frustrating’
An obstetrician in northwest Louisiana, who requested anonymity because her hospital did not give her permission to speak with a reporter, said she had a patient who faced challenges procuring misoprostol last week.
“I couldn’t get a single pharmacy in [my area] to dispense misoprostol for an IUD insertion,” the doctor said.
The OB explained that prior to May, she hadn’t had issues calling in misoprostol prescriptions the day before a procedure. She submitted the prescription in question Tuesday for a procedure the next day.
Doctors criticize misoprostol guidance from Louisiana Department of Health: ‘It’s not helpful’
“Usually the pharmacies would have the medicine the next day or make adjustments pending dosage availability,” she explained, saying that in her experience pharmacists can often get deliveries secured overnight.
The patient was able to fill her accompanying Valium prescription, according to her doctor, but four area pharmacies the patient called told her they did not have misoprostol in stock. One family-owned pharmacy told the patient they were no longer carrying it, her doctor said The patient ended up getting the procedure without misoprostol.
The doctor said she had her staff follow up with five pharmacies in the area and said none had it readily available. Only two offered to order the medication.
Now the doctor said she is considering steps to keep misoprostol in her office so that she can dispense it to patients herself, hours ahead of a procedure.
“I counsel these patients on the pain they might experience with IUD insertion and offer them ways to mitigate it. So it’s really frustrating when I can’t hold up my end of the bargain,” the physician said.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
If you’ve experienced challenges seeking reproductive health care in Louisiana, particularly if you are in a rural area, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out this secure form or contact our reporter at lorenaoneil.64 on Signal, an encrypted messaging app.
New Orleans area residents and officials on Tuesday made preparations for a potential major rain event, distributing sandbags and warning of localized flooding in the region as a tropical disturbance brewed near Corpus Christi, Texas.
National Hurricane Center forecasters give the storm — which as of Tuesday morning was dubbed Potential Tropical Cyclone One — a 70% chance of developing into a tropical storm in the next two days, possibly as early as Wednesday morning. The storm is “fairly close to transitioning into a tropical depression,” according to Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.
If it does, it will become Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of this year’s hurricane season.
The worst case, forecasters warned on Tuesday afternoon, is that some areas could see 20 inches of rain through Thursday, though five to ten inches is the more likely forecast in most of the storm’s path. The heaviest rain in Louisiana is expected in a band around the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas, as well as along a swath of the northshore, which are forecast to see more rain than New Orleans. A moderate risk of flash flooding extends in a wide band from Corpus Christi to Atlanta.
Even if this storm doesn’t earn a name, rainfall is expected to be heavy along the Louisiana coast. Residents should expect some coastal and potentially dangerous flash flooding by midweek, forecasters said.
Terrin pellerin, left and Jon Pucheu prepare sand bags at the Eastbank Bridge Park ahead of the gulf disturbance in Destrehan, Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
“Whether or not it becomes a tropical cyclone, the biggest hazard is going to be the rainfall, and potentially flooding along the Gulf Coast,” said Robbie Berg, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “That hazard is going to occur regardless of whether it gets the name.”
It has also already earned the season’s first “cone of uncertainty” forecast track, and it’s aimed at the Louisiana-Texas border. The storm will keep heading northeast, moving offshore and gaining some strength over the Gulf’s hot waters. It will track the Texas coastline northward, increasing in speed gradually over the next few days.
While the storm is expected to bring heavy rain, it isn’t likely to bring especially strong winds to the New Orleans region. A flood watch is in effect for the entire region through Friday morning, with parts of the northshore facing flash flood warnings on Tuesday afternoon. Moderate storm surge of two to four feet is expected from the upper Texas coast to Morgan City.
The tropical storm warning extends from Sabine Pass to Morgan City, but doesn’t include Southeast Louisiana. A tropical storm watch is in effect for the upper Texas coast from Sargent to Sabine Pass.
Still, the weather service warns that “a tornado or two” is possible, anywhere from the upper Texas coast to the Florida Panhandle.
The New Orleans region prepares
Officials across the New Orleans region urged residents to make preparations and mobilized government resources to assist.
Emma Skillbred, a spokesperson at the New Orleans Office of Coordination and Emergency Management, said the city was in close touch with the National Weather Service and other agencies.
Their primary concern is heavy rain and localized flash flooding. They urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and not to drive through flooded roads.
“Floodwaters are often deeper than they appear, and just a small amount of moving water can carry away a vehicle,” she said.
Sewerage & Water Board General Superintendent Kaitlin Tymrak asked residents to keep an eye on catch basins and sweep away any debris on the street surface to avoid having it run into storm drains. Catch basins clogged by debris can be reported to the city by calling 311.
“We monitor all of the underpass stations. Our crews go out and will typically do a cleaning of each underpass as well,” Tymrak said, describing storm preparations.
S&WB officials say the drainage system is generally able to handle one inch of rain in the first hour of a storm and half an inch thereafter. At least five storms have exceeded those thresholds since December 2023, resulting in widespread street flooding.
“If we were to get three inches in an hour, that would very likely overwhelm parts of our drainage system. We have a very robust system, but it can only handle so much based on its design,” Tymrak said.
Jefferson Parish officials also advised residents to make sure their storm drains are clear, and said that 196 of the parish’s 198 pumps are online. The two that are out of commission are the Harvey pump station and the Pailet pump station, but both have additional pumping capacity.
In St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany parishes, sandbag distribution was already underway.
Not uncommon
It might feel early to have a storm develop in the Gulf, but Berg with the National Hurricane Center said it’s completely normal.
“We commonly see tropical cyclone development in the Gulf and off the southeast coast of the U.S.,” he said. “It is actually not that abnormal to have a storm form this time of year.”
Since 1950, there have been only four hurricane landfalls along the Gulf Coast in the month of June.
But named tropical storms swirling through the Gulf far before peak hurricane season are much more common. In the last two decades, there have been 16 named storms in the Gulf during the month of June.
Staff writers Ben Myers, Marco Cartolano, Lara Nicholson, Joni Hess, and Justin Mitchell contributed reporting.
This story was orginally published by the Louisiana Illuminator. Editor’s note from the Illuminator: The following commentary was submitted in response to a submission from Chad Hanks, “Farmer finds fears over carbon capture unwarranted,” June 9, 2026.
The recent defense of carbon capture and sequestration presents a familiar narrative: struggling farmers, economic opportunity and a promise that Louisiana’s future depends on embracing this new industry.
It is a compelling story. Unfortunately, it is also incomplete.
No one disputes that farming is difficult. Commodity prices fluctuate. Input costs rise. Families fight every day to hold onto land that’s been in their family for generations. As a Louisiana landowner myself, I understand those pressures.
But the question before Louisiana is not whether farmers deserve opportunities. It’s whether citizens should surrender their property rights, public resources and local control so multinational corporations can bury millions of tons of industrial waste beneath our communities.
Supporters of carbon capture and sequestration often frame opposition as fear, misinformation, or “Facebook rumors.” Yet many of the people asking questions are engineers, geologists, attorneys, landowners, elected officials and citizens who have spent years studying the permits, legislation, regulatory filings and financial incentives driving this industry.
What concerns us is an industrial-scale system that relies on eminent domain, taxpayer subsidies, government mandates, regulatory favoritism and the permanent alteration of Louisiana’s subsurface property rights.
If carbon capture and sequestration is such a profitable and beneficial industry, why does it require billions in federal tax credits? Why does it require state laws granting private corporations the power to expropriate private property? Why does it require immunity protections and limitations on liability? Why does it depend on government intervention at every stage?
The answer is simple: The economics do not work without government assistance and the transfer of risk from corporations to Louisiana citizens.
Supporters frequently compare carbon dioxide pipelines to traditional oil and gas pipelines. That comparison ignores important facts. Oil and gas pipelines transport products with immediate economic value. CO2 pipelines transport waste streams for permanent disposal.
Supporters also compare industrial CO2 pipelines to sparkling water and fire extinguishers. That comparison misses the point. The issue is not the small amounts of carbon dioxide found in consumer products. These projects involve massive volumes of compressed industrial CO₂ transported through high-pressure pipelines and injected underground for permanent storage. Citizens have every right to examine the risks, long-term liability, and emergency response challenges associated with that scale of operation.
The Satartia, Mississippi, pipeline rupture demonstrated how a carbon dioxide release can create a ground-hugging cloud capable of incapacitating an entire community. First responders found themselves unprepared.
This is not fear-mongering. It is documented reality.
Many of the corporations seeking to build carbon storage projects in Louisiana are headquartered outside our state. Investment funds, multinational corporations and consulting firms promoting these projects are largely outside the communities where the pipelines and injection wells will be located.
Meanwhile, many of the citizens raising concerns are Louisiana landowners, farmers, business owners and local residents funding their own efforts, attending meetings on their own time and fighting to protect their property rights and communities.
This is not a battle between Louisiana and outside activists. In many cases, it is Louisiana citizens asking hard questions about projects being advanced by out-of-state corporations, investors and special interests.
What is perhaps most troubling is the coordinated effort underway to manufacture public acceptance.
Across Louisiana, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry-funded associations, universities and government agencies have joined together under what has been described as a “whole of Louisiana” approach. Citizens are repeatedly told carbon storage is inevitable, opposition is anti-business, and that Louisiana must choose between CO2 sequestration and economic prosperity.
This is not a grassroots movement. It is a coordinated public relations campaign.
Citizens are rarely told that many of the organizations promoting carbon capture and sequestration stand to benefit from industrial expansion, grants, consulting contracts and economic incentive programs tied directly to these projects.
Chad Hanks’ commentary argues that opposing CCS projects somehow infringes upon a willing landowner’s rights. But what about the neighboring landowner who refuses to participate? What about landowners facing pipeline expropriation? What about future generations who inherit the risks long after today’s executives, politicians and lobbyists have moved on?
Property rights must apply equally to everyone, not just those who sign contracts.
Louisiana’s strength has always been its people, its natural resources and its independent spirit. We should welcome honest economic development. We should encourage manufacturing, innovation and energy production.
But we should never accept the false choice that Louisiana must become the nation’s carbon waste repository in order to survive.
Citizens have every right to ask hard questions before surrendering property rights, public resources and local control to an industry that would not exist without massive government subsidies.
We can support farmers without sacrificing landowners.
We can create jobs without surrendering property rights.
We can pursue economic growth without turning Louisiana into a permanent storage site for the emissions of the world’s largest corporations.
That isn’t anti-business. That’s common sense.
Gary Musgrove is president of Save My Louisiana, a grassroots organization focused on protecting private property rights, landowner interests and Louisiana’s natural resources. He is a lifelong Louisiana resident, landowner, small business owner and retired U.S. Air Force veteran.
Related
Flash flood warning issued for northwest Louisiana
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Warning just after noon on June 15 for northwest Louisiana.
Courtesy of Bob Thames
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Shreveport issued a Flash Flood Warning just after noon Monday, June 15, for northwest Louisiana.
According to the NWS, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain and flash flooding for much of the region. The warning was initially issued until 3 p.m. but was extended until 3:45 p.m.
NWS said this flash flooding could impact small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas.
Shreveport Police Department is reporting that since the rain began this morning, officers have responded to 53 calls for stranded or disabled vehicles and are investigating 24 traffic crashes.
“We are asking motorists to use extreme caution if you must travel,” Shreveport Police Department Public Information Officer Cpl. Chris Bordelon said. “Never attempt to drive through flooded roadways or high water. It only takes a small amount of moving water to sweep a vehicle off the roadway.”
Central parts of Shreveport are being heavily impacted. Shreveport business owner Bob Thames said, “I drove from my office downtown to Marilynn’s Place to check on the building. I had to take several detours. Streets that I’ve never seen flooded before were flooded.”
He continued, “The rapids flowing through Betty Virginia were unlike anything I’ve seen in my time in Shreveport. Bayou Pierre was higher than I’ve ever seen it. I was on the sidewalk warning people not to drive through Fern and Greenway Place.”
Thames stated he witnessed multiple cars get damaged this afternoon.
The Shreveport Police Department is reminding drivers that if you don’t have to be on the roads, stay home until conditions improve.
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
-
Lifestyle25 minutes agoDMV artist turns belts into a conversation about discipline
-
Technology35 minutes agoThe Complete Calvin and Hobbes is a great last-minute Father’s Day gift
-
World41 minutes agoAnti-G7 protest turns violent as demonstrators torch Tesla and smash UN office windows
-
Politics48 minutes agoDems pick potential successor to DC’s congressional delegate after decades-long incumbency
-
Health50 minutes agoBride in full wedding gown makes 2-hour hospital trip to see her mother before the ceremony
-
Sports56 minutes agoBest Of World Cup: Top Fan Moments, From Cape Verde’s Goats To Mexico’s Duck
-
Technology1 hour agoNew wheeled robot says no thanks to humanoid hype
-
Business1 hour agoCapital Group buys Bunker Hill skyscraper
