Contraceptive Technology Update – October 1, 2005
October 1, 2005
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Media report on Ortho Evra patch sets off safety concerns in women
Has your office telephone been ringing with questions from patients following a recent media report that the death rate for the transdermal contraceptive (Ortho Evra, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Raritan, NJ) is three times that expected for oral contraceptives? -
Mifepristone label gets new safety information
The manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone (Mifeprex, Danco Laboratories; New York City) has revised the safety information for the drugs label and issued a letter to health care providers in light of five deaths from serious bacterial infection and sepsis following use of the medication abortion regimen. -
Study shows OTC access doesn’t increase EC use
If emergency contraception (EC) is made available over the counter (OTC) in the United States, will it lead to more unprotected sex and increased use? Results from a just-published analysis of British use of the drug indicates that it will not. -
Certain types of breast disease may signal risk
New evidence indicates that women with benign breast disease have a higher risk for breast cancer, and that certain types of breast disease may predict the near-term development of breast cancer. -
Check choices for women with epilepsy
In reviewing the chart for your next patient, you note that she is a 28-year-old woman with epilepsy. What information do you need to provide her when it comes to contraceptive choices? Many family planning clinicians encounter this scenario. Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic health conditions affecting reproductive-age women. -
Q Ask the Experts: How to start mini-pills in a breast-feeding mom
How do you initiate mini-pills in a lactating woman who specifies such pill use for contraception? -
Updates
Take a look at www.trichomoniasis.net, the first comprehensive web site to focus on the sexually transmitted disease (STD) trichomoniasis. -
STD Quarterly: Male circumcision and HIV prevention: Method can dramatically reduce risk, study says
No doubt you have scanned news reports of a recent study of male circumcision, used as an HIV prevention intervention, which resulted in dramatic reduction in HIV incidence among circumcised men.1 But does the news translate into an immediate change in public health policy? -
STD Quarterly: Task force: Screen all pregnant women for HIV
Consider these facts: Women are the fastest-growing group in the United States with newly diagnosed HIV, and last year, an estimated 6,000-7,000 women with HIV gave birth.