Death, Lawsuits, and the Pill

The Case Against Hormonal Birth Control

Mar 5, 2007

Birth control pills and patches may be popular and easy to use, but they have many associated health risks that you may not know about.

When the first birth control pill came out in 1960, it was lauded as a symbol of women’s empowerment and liberation. Now, women could enjoy sex just like men did, without worrying about getting pregnant. Of course, there was the diaphragm, but it had to be inserted before sex, and was therefore less convenient than a miracle pill that allowed one to have sex whenever and wherever she wanted. And condoms of the time were unerotically thick, with seams on their sides.

To this day, the Pill and other hormonal methods remain some of the most popular contraceptives out there. It seems so easy and modern to take a small pill every day, or to get a shot or implant like Depo Provera or Norplant, or even to wear a patch like the Ortho Evra. But there’s definitely a dark side. Aside from the fact that these methods don’t protect against HIV and STDs, hormonal birth control increases one’s risk of many serious illnesses. Let’s take a look at a few cases.

Norplant, the implant that can be placed under one’s skin for five years, was pulled off the market in 2002 for many reasons, one of them being the number of lawsuits it received for causing conditions like depression, ovarian cysts, hair loss, and dangerous blood clots that could lead to stroke and heart disease.[1] Another controversy around Norplant, and the long-lasting shot Depo Provera,[2] was in regards to their use in women prisoners, who were forced to use these products as a condition of parole despite severe health risks. This became an equal rights issue because it disproportionately affected working class and minority women, as well as those with handicaps like mental illness. [3]

The Ortho Evra birth control patch has been linked to 23 deaths, including a 17 year old who died of a pulmonary embolism, which is a condition usually found in senior citizens.[4] Young people contracted these illnesses because they used hormonal methods like Ortho Evra, which put chemicals called progestins in the body. Although they are similar in structure to the natural hormone progesterone, which is produced during pregnancy, progestins’ effects are very different and sometimes dangerous. The NuvaRing[5], an externally worn ring endorsed by celebrities, causes some of the same problems as Ortho Evra.

Pills like Mircette and Ortho-Tri-Cyclen, which contain a compound called desogestrel, are coming under scrutiny as blood clot sufferers have filed a class action lawsuit[6]. Again, girls as young as 16 have been dying from these products, and doctors, including family doctors and, in Canada, school nurses, have been prescribing these dangerous substances[7].

Does this mean that we should only avoid Norplant, Depo Provera, Ortho Evra, and pills with desogestrel? No, because although some types of birth control have not been proven unhealthy, they all contain the same category of substances, some of whose dangers have not yet been discovered.

Blood clots and strokes aren’t the only dangers inherent in hormonal birth control. These contraceptives also raise the risk of breast cancer, which is commonly known as one of the top killers of women over the age of 40. Although older women, particularly those who feel like they have enough children, often opt for more long-lasting birth control methods such as tubal ligation or the IUD, those who have used hormonal birth control in the past are more at risk for breast cancer than those who have not.

So what can women do to have safer heterosexual sex, if hormonal birth control has been proven to be dangerous? Condoms are the best method, being as they protect against both STDs and pregnancy. Many of today’s condoms are ultra thin, and using a lubricant both increases their efficacy and the sensation felt by both partners. There is also the old-fashioned diaphragm and the cervical cap, both of which do not provide protection against STDs, but which are effective and time-tested. There is also a product called the sponge, which contains sperm-killing chemicals, but which does not protect against STDs either. Modern science has a slew of new contraceptives in the pipeline, from gels that kill both sperm and HIV to spray-on condoms[8][9].

Let’s hope, for safety’s sake, that dangerous hormonal birth control’s days are numbered. Hopefully, improvements in condom design and other technologies will make sex better for both men and women, and eliminate the prospect of STDs and unwanted pregnancy for good.

[4] http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/ortho_evra_sued.html?ref=article

[6] http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/02/20/News/Controversial.Pills.Stay.On.Shelves-2730109.shtml

The copyright of the article Death, Lawsuits, and the Pill in Women's Sexual Health is owned by Mara Linda Yu. Permission to republish Death, Lawsuits, and the Pill in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.