Safety of contraception challenged by recent adverse events and threats to women's health

AIM: On the background of media reports about serious harm to the health of thousands of women engaged in birth control and contraception, the paper aims at emphasizing the importance of the parameter safety in birth control and contraception. METHOD: The method consists in an in-depth analysis of those sources of information that are most-widely used by women and their health care providers, i.e., packaging labels of manufacturers and statements by the FDA. In addition, the information presented by high-ranked scholarly journals, which are most commonly accessed by health care professionals is analysed. RESULTS: Presently, women do not obtain information suitable for preventing harm and injury caused by contraceptive drugs and devices.Heath care providers, frequently misled by journal articles, apparently fail to comply with the requirements of the principle of informed consent, despite urgings by manufacturers and the FDA. CONCLUSION: At present it is difficult for women to access comprehensive, complete, and reliable information on the safety of methods of contraception. Counsel through health care providers is difficult to obtain, because doctors are frequently guided by economic principles and are also misled by editors who publish studies adulterated by conflicts of interest.

• PDF