Tag Archives: FDA

The Feminine Mystique in Retrospect: An Interview With Stephanie Coontz, Part 1

Posted on by
3

Award-winning author Stephanie Coontz has published a long list of books and articles about the history of family and marriage. She has written about the evolution of those two institutions from prehistory to today, in works that have been widely praised for their intelligence, wit, and insight. In her most recent book, A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s (Basic Books, 2012), Coontz takes us back 50 years to a breakthrough that changed the role of women in American households.

“Equal marriages require more negotiation than unequal ones.”

In 1963 it was clear that a revolution was beginning. After its approval by the FDA at the beginning of the decade, 2.3 million American women were using the birth control pill, the oral contraceptive that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger had been instrumental in pioneering. And on February 19, 1963, 50 years ago today, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, a book that sold millions of copies in its first three years. It quickly became the object of both derision and acclaim for awakening women to aspirations beyond what discrimination and prejudice had long defined for them. If oral contraceptives were the breakthrough in medicine that finally enabled women to plan their reproductive lives around their educational and career goals, Friedan’s landmark book was the breakthrough in consciousness that gave many the resolve to do it.

Friedan was a magazine writer whose experience surveying women at a college reunion was the spark that drove her to uncover “the problem that has no name.” She was referring to the dissatisfaction and depression she found widespread among housewives, not just at the reunion but in many other encounters she had with them as a writer. Convinced that it would help married women — and their marriages — if they sought their own identities outside of the home, Friedan synthesized a wealth of research to make her case in The Feminine Mystique. Stephanie Coontz’s A Strange Stirring is a social history of The Feminine Mystique that takes readers from an era of far-reaching sex discrimination in the early 1960s when Friedan made her breakthrough, to the contemporary era when many of Friedan’s appeals have been realized but new challenges hinder equality. Continue reading →

Let’s Talk Contraception: Female Condoms, Another Contraceptive Choice

Posted on by
2

Are you or your partner allergic to latex? Does your male partner not like to use condoms, or does he want to try something that may feel less restrictive? Would you like to decrease the risk of skin-to-skin transmission of viruses, such as those that cause genital warts or herpes? Do you feel that putting on condoms distracts from the spontaneity of sex? You might be interested in learning about female condoms.

September 12 is Global Female Condom Day.

The female condom, available as the brand name FC2, is a barrier contraceptive that was developed with the dual purpose of allowing women contraceptive control and providing  protection against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

You do not need a prescription or to see a health care provider to get the FC2 — it’s available for sale just like male condoms.

As with other contraceptive methods, it is not foolproof, but when used properly and consistently it is 79 to 95 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. Also, its shape and design allows less skin-to-skin contact where diseases may spread.

The first female condoms were made of polyurethane. The new FC2 is now made of a thin, flexible nitrile sheath with an open ring at one end that covers the outside of the genital area and a smaller closed ring on the end that is inserted in the vagina. Inside the sheath is a silicone lubricant. Because the condom is not latex, it can also be used with any kind of additional lubricant and by those allergic to latex. Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

Posted on by
Reply
  • Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic is at risk for closure thanks to their staunchly anti-choice governor. (CNN)
  • The FBI is investigating fires set at Georgia Women’s Clinics — hope they catch the sadist! (HuffPo)
  • Think carefully about this before you get knocked up, ladies: A fear of childbirth has been linked to longer labor. (Time Healthland)
  • Catholic bishops in Calgary have banned the HPV vaccine in Catholic schools due to their irrational, ignorant fears that it will cause promiscuity. (National Post)
  • Wow, this never happens: California actually wants to give women more access to birth control. (NC Times)
  • The National Organization for Women is firmly in the corner of President Obama for reelection. (Politico)
  • The FDA recently approved the first rapid, take-home HIV test. (USA Today)
  • Good news for those who are truly pro-life and genuinely care about the lives of women: Meeting Contraception Needs Could Cut Maternal Deaths by a Third. (NYT)
  • The public sharing of abortion stories — a meaningful way to de-stigmatize the procedure and connect women. (RH Reality Check)

Let’s Talk Contraception: What’s the Difference Between Generic and Brand-Name Birth Control?

Posted on by
Reply

Oral contraceptives (birth control pills) have been around for decades, and many are now available as generics. In general, generics cost less than brand-name medications. Despite saving money, some users question whether generic birth control pills are as “good” as brand-name pills. To confuse the situation, new brand-name birth control pills have been developed that specifically claim other benefits in addition to protection from pregnancy, such as treatment of acne. The cost of these brand-name pills is much higher. To understand the generic vs. brand-name debate, it is first important to understand how drugs are developed.

Clinical evidence doesn’t support the idea that generic birth control pills have different failure rates or side effects than their name-brand counterparts.

When a drug is first discovered and developed it goes through a drug review process. This involves many steps: chemistry experiments to discover the active chemical structure of the drug, manufacturing and testing the chemical drug product, inspections of the manufacturing process, and many other developmental studies. Then there are animal studies to check safety and efficacy — and if the drug works without major side effects. Finally, clinical studies are conducted in people; these studies test to assure bioavailability (the amount of time it takes for the body to absorb the drug). These last tests, in animals and people, show bioequivalence. Bioequivalence means the drug must enter the body, be absorbed in the same time frame, and work in the body the same way consistently.

When a new drug is finally approved by the FDA, it has met strict standards regarding its strength, purity, quality, potency, safety, and clinical effectiveness. New drugs are awarded patents for 20 years, but by the time they come to market, much of that time has run out due to all of the testing requirements. Generics are usually less expensive — manufacturers do not need to repeat discovering the drug, nor must they redo animal and human studies to assure the drug is safe and works as intended. The generic companies also do not need to spend as much money on advertising, marketing, and promotion. Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

Posted on by
2
  • Unwelcome news for anti-choicers: Remember how the FDA and everyone else thought the “morning after pill” (aka Plan B) might prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a uterus? Well, turns out that’s totally and completely wrong. Emergency contraception simply makes it harder for sperm to reach the egg by stalling an egg’s release until sperm can no longer fertilize it. What it doesn’t do is stop a pregnancy from occurring if the egg has already been fertilized. (NYT)
  • Despite Lila Rose’s latest anti-choice “sting” here in Arizona, the facts remain unchanged on the rarity of sex-selective abortion. Nice try, though. (Media Matters)
  • More on Lila’s foolery and how much she and Live Action suck. (RH Reality Check)
  • Sperm cell genes may be the key to male birth control. (MSNBC)
  • Bad news for all you sex-havers: Gonorrhea is growing resistant to drugs and could soon be untreatable. (ABC News)
  • Think about this for a sec: If you believe sex is sinful, the policies that increase teen pregnancy and STD rates are a success. Makes sense to me! (Double X)
  • Michigan’s trying to best Arizona in the anti-choice state championships. (Jezebel)
  • Montana’s trying their hand at a personhood initiative — despite the fact that similar measures in other states have failed spectacularly. (Ms. Magazine)
  • If you or anyone you know is taking the birth control pill Introvale, beware — it’s been recalled! (CBS News)

How to Find Accurate Health Information Online

Posted on by
Reply
Does conflicting information on the Internet leave you scratching your head? Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Does conflicting information on the Internet leave you scratching your head? Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Did you know only 13 states require that sex education in public schools be medically accurate? This leaves a lot of people in the dark when it comes to making decisions that could have a lasting impact on their lives. Luckily, the Internet can make accurate information about sex accessible. It can also be a dangerous tool if wielded incorrectly, so it’s important to differentiate sources of good information from unreliable sources. An article in the New York Times suggests that the No. 1 way teenagers get their information about sex is through the Internet. Whether or not they receive medically accurate information depends on their search results.

You can’t assume that a product’s legality is evidence of its efficacy.

The Internet is a maze of conflicting information. Most reputable authors will cite their sources, and it’s important that you check them. Online message boards can be filled with anonymous commenters offering opinions, anecdotes, falsehoods, or facts — unless these commenters back their statements up with sources, it may be difficult for you to evaluate their claims. A message board dealing with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) might seem like an ideal outlet for someone who is concerned about having an STD; other message boards dealing with sex or contraception offer a similar refuge. Users might appreciate the anonymity afforded by such online communities, but it’s important to remember that the people there are also anonymous. The Internet “hive mind” cannot substitute for a professional diagnosis, scientific consensus, or medically sound advice.

Other dubious sources of information might include “alternative health” websites. Many of these practitioners give good advice, like to quit smoking, start exercising, and eat fresh fruits and vegetables. We can’t argue with that. Sometimes, though, these communities can encourage the use of unproven remedies in place of effective treatments. A quick Google search for “natural contraception” can lead you to websites promoting mixtures of herbs for preventing pregnancy, and a search for “herpes cures” might leave you thinking that earwax or homeopathy can stop an outbreak in its tracks. Nonscientific ideas about the immune system also give rise to medically inaccurate statements about vaccines, such as the idea that “natural” HPV infections are preferable to being vaccinated with Gardasil — despite the facts that natural HPV infections might not confer effective immunity against re-infection and can lead to cancer. Continue reading →

Coming Soon: A More Effective Emergency Contraception

Posted on by
2

Another tool for the prevention of unintended pregnancy has recently been approved by the FDA: ulipristal acetate (marketed under the brand name ella®), a type of emergency contraception that can be taken up to five days after unprotected sexual intercourse. The medication is already in use in Europe, and the FDA conducted its own clinical trials before approving it as a prescription contraceptive on August 13. Ella was found to be safe and effective, and better at preventing pregnancy than current forms of emergency contraception, such as Plan B.

While Plan B can be taken up to three days after unprotected intercourse, its effectiveness is dependent upon how soon it is taken after sex. Plan B taken immediately after unprotected intercourse is more effective than when it is taken three days afterward. Ella, on the other hand, has been found to be just as effective on the fifth day as it is on the first day. According to the New York Times:

Women who have unprotected intercourse have about 1 chance in 20 of becoming pregnant. Those who take Plan B within three days cut that risk to about 1 in 40, while those who take ella would cut that risk to about 1 in 50, regulators say. Studies show that ella is less effective in obese women.  Continue reading →