News and Features Related to Birth Control

1. Birth Control Pill Yasmin Goes Generic
   

   June 24, 2008 -- The birth control pill Yasmin is about to get a generic version, and a generic version of the oral contraceptive Yaz is also in the works. That news comes from Bayer, the drug company that makes Yasmin and Yaz, and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., which will market generic Yasmin and Yaz

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2. Doctors Not Telling Women About Plan B
   

   June 19, 2008 -- Despite widespread misinformation about emergency contraception -- the so-called morning-after pill -- only 3% of women's doctors discuss Plan B with them. The finding comes from data collected during face-to-face interviews with 7,643 women aged 15 to 44. The interviews were conduc

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3. Contraceptive Pill: Cancer Protection
   

   Jan 24, 2008 -- Oral contraceptives cut women's risk of ovarian cancer for more than 30 years after they stop taking them -- giving the pill a net anticancer effect. Each five-year interval of oral contraceptive use cuts a woman's ovarian cancer risk by up to 29%. The longer a woman uses the pill, t

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4. Stronger Warning for Birth Control Patch
   

   Jan. 18, 2008 -- The FDA today strengthened its warning on the risk of serious blood clots in women using the Ortho Evra birth control skin patch. The warning about venous thromboembolism -- clots in veins that may be life-threatening if they travel to the lungs and cause pulmonary embolism -- isn't

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5. Plan B: 11 Questions, 11 Answers
   

   Here are 11 questions and answers on the emergency contraceptive Plan B and its FDA approval for over-the-counter sales to women aged 18 and older. Plan B is an emergency contraceptive pill taken by mouth after unprotected sex. It is used to prevent pregnancy. It is not for routine contraceptive use

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6. The Pill Raises Cervical Cancer Risk
   

   Nov. 8, 2007 -- Women who use oral contraceptives have an increased risk of developing cervical cancer, but the risk drops quickly once the pill is stopped. Taking oral contraceptives for five or more years was associated with a doubling of cervical cancer risk in the newly published study. But risk

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7. Artery Plaque Risk From the Pill?
   

   Nov. 6, 2007 (Orlando, Fla.) -- In what they call a startling finding, European researchers report that the millions of women worldwide who are on the pill or who used oral contraceptives for a year or more in the past are at increased risk of plaque buildup in the arteries. "This the first time we

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8. Study: Implantable Contraceptives Work
   

   July 18, 2007 -- Implantable contraceptives are highly effective for preventing pregnancy and seem to be well tolerated by the women who use them, a review of the research shows. The combined analysis included nine studies comparing different implantable contraceptives. More than four out of five wo

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9. FDA OKs 'No-Period' Birth Control Pill
   

   May 22, 2007 -- The FDA has approved Lybrel, the first low-dose contraceptive pill that gives women an option to stop their menstrual cycle for an indefinite period of time. However, women using Lybrel will most likely have unplanned breakthrough bleeding or spotting, according to the FDA. Women sho

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10. Plan B Doesn’t Cut Pregnancy Rates
    

    April 17, 2007 – So-called morning-after contraception works for individual women, but it isn’t working to lower unwanted pregnancy rates at the population level, an analysis of the research shows. Researchers concluded that easy access to emergency contraception (involving higher doses of hormones

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