PHOTO: NICHOLAS McINTOSH

Summer 2006 | Newsbriefs: Co-op Coup

Blanchard Gets “A” for Effort

Sometimes Plan B can be a lot more interesting than one expects. For Annie Blanchard ‘06, a winter co-op at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten led to a nationwide showdown with Wal-Mart Stores over Plan B contra-ceptives, commonly referred to as the “morning-after pill.”

When Blanchard arrived at the Boston firm she was immediately assigned to write a complaint against Wal-Mart for its failure to comply with a Massachusetts state regulation requiring pharmacies to maintain a stock of “commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community.” At the time, Wal-Mart refused to stock emergency contraception in its 3,400 nationwide pharmacies. Blanchard researched the issues and popular press, and drafted the complaint under the state’s Consumer Protection Act, chapter 93A.

“This case was interesting because it relied on a technical, albeit creative, interpretation of a state regulation that as far as I am aware of had never been the subject of litigation,” said Blanchard, who graduated in May and is now a staff attorney with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC.

In response to the complaint, the state Board of Registration in Pharmacy voted unanimously to require Wal-Mart to stock and dispense Plan B.

“Even though she didn’t get to field questions at the press conferences, Annie was a major legal presence in the Wal-Mart case,” said Samuel Perkins, her co-op supervisor and lead attorney in the case. “She did a great job compiling the history of Wal-Mart’s public statements on emergency contraception, drafting a demand letter and the complaint, researching other states’ laws on stocking medication, and preparing drug formulary information for the Pharmacy Board meeting that effectively ended the case.”

In March, Wal-Mart went one step further: it announced all of its nationwide pharmacies would carry Plan B contraceptives. The victory was hailed by a variety of organizations, including NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, which had been urging Wal-Mart to change its Plan B policy for months. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America said that wider access to emergency contraception would prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions.

“We rely on Northeastern clerks for everything short of court appearances, and Annie — like other co-op students who have worked here — showed that she is already a wonderful lawyer,” said Perkins.