Group Seeks To Ban Low-Dose Birth Control Pill Due To Increased Clotting Risk

Group seeks to ban certain birth control pills

Certain low-dose birth control pills increase a woman's risk of a potentially deadly blood clot more than others and should be pulled from the market, a consumer group says.
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It is not a new issue: Labels of desogestrel-containing birth control pills already list that increased risk in fine-print warnings of side effects. And in 1995, Britain's drug regulators sparked a pill scare by issuing warnings about the same progestin, which sold abroad for years before hitting the U.S. market.

Public Citizen contended that after years of research that showed no extra benefit for desogestrel-containing contraceptives, it was time for users to switch to older, safer birth control pills. It was posting a video explaining the petition on YouTube to get that message to younger pill users.

"FDA will carefully review the petition," agency spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said.

OK - not a child-free related rant, directly, but what happened to letting people making their own choices as to whether the rewards of certain medicines are worth the risks? Regulate like hell to make certain every patient is explained the risks in no uncertain terms, then treat us like grownups and let us choose for ourselves.

I worry every time a group tries to block access to birth control, no matter the reason. We have too few choices, and too little access as it is. Women should not have to choose between abortion and pregnancy.

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