contraceptive PATCH effective!

[Guest guest]

I thought this was really interesting, especially since I'm not sure how the

pill is processed post-operatively... the hormones are administered via a

skin patch and FDA approval may take up to a year!

All the best,

lap DS with gallbladder removal

Dr. Gagner/DR. Quinn assisting/Mt. Sinai/NYC

January 25, 2001

3 1/2 months post-op and still feelin' fab!

Study: Contraceptive Patch Safe

By LINDSEY TANNER

..c The Associated Press

CHICAGO (May 8) - The world's first contraceptive patch - now awaiting U.S.

government approval - is as safe and effective as the pill, and easier to

remember to use, research suggests.

A study on the patch appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical

Association and was included in the manufacturer's application for Food and

Drug Administration approval in December. The manufacturer paid for the

study.

The government review of the patch, made by & 's Ortho-McNeil

Pharmaceutical Inc., is expected to take a year. The company also has applied

for approval in Europe.

The adhesive hormone patch is about the size of a matchbook. It delivers

continuous low levels of estrogen and progestin, designed, like birth control

pills, to prevent ovulation. It can be worn on the abdomen or buttocks.

Three patches, each worn for a week, are used during a menstrual cycle. The

user has her period in the fourth week.

The study suggests the Ortho Evra patch will offer ``the promise of another sa

fe and effective form of reversible contraception,'' said Dr.

Blumenthal, a s Hopkins University researcher and medical adviser to

Planned Parenthood who was not involved in the research.

The study compared results from 812 women wearing the patch versus 605 on

Wyeth-Ayerst's Triphasil birth control pills for at least six cycles.

Five patch women got pregnant, compared with seven on the pill. But the

difference was not considered statistically significant.

The percentage of cycles in which there was perfect compliance, meaning the

method was used as directed, was nearly 90 percent in the patch women and

nearly 80 percent in the pill women.

``The numerically lower overall failure rate for the contraceptive patch may

be due to better compliance shown with this once-weekly dosing regimen,'' the

researchers wrote.

Twenty percent of the patch users had skin irritations at the patch site.

Other side effects were relatively common in both groups and were mostly

minor, such as headaches, nausea and breast discomfort.

The price of the patch has not been determined.

AP-NY-05-08-01 1634EDT

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news

report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed

without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active

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