Reproductive control agents

Common oral contraceptive pill has negative effect on general well-being

An estimated 100 million women use the contraceptive pill, but surprisingly little is known about its effect on overall health.…

Contraceptive pill does not increase long-term cancer risk

Most women who take the contraceptive pill are not at increased risk of cancer overall and may actually gain some protection against certain cancers, researchers say.…

Pharmacists urged to explain potential effect of body weight on emergency contraception

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) has urged pharmacists and doctors to explain to patients that the emergency contraceptive pill can be ineffective in women weighing 11 stone or more, or with a body-mass index of 26 or above.…

GPhC consultation on religious beliefs generates record number of responses

Proposals that would prevent a pharmacist from referring a patient elsewhere on the grounds that their personal religious beliefs prevented them from providing the necessary care have triggered a record number of responses, the General Pharmaceutical Council says.…

Increasing refusal to supply EHC would be beneficial

I have recently retired from practice but if I were still practising in community pharmacy today, I would have to decide whether to look for a new sector of practice or wait until I was ousted from my post because I have a moral objection to supplying emergency hormonal contraception (EHC). Th…

RPS issues updated guidance on emergency contraception

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has updated its own guidance on emergency contraception, in response to new Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare guidelines on prescribing of emergency contraception.…

Pharmacists in New Zealand can now prescribe the oral contraception pill to women

We have come a long way from the early days of the oral contraceptive pill, where the doctor would only prescribe it to women who were married, and then told them soon after that it was time to stop it and have babies. But in most countries we have not come far enough. The oral contraceptive i…

Gel-based ‘vasectomy’ could be an effective male contraceptive

Researchers injected 16 adult male monkeys with Vasalgel; their mates did not conceive for the duration of the two-year study.…

New Zealand pharmacists will soon be able to dispense OTC oral contraception

Pharmacists in New Zealand will soon be able to dispense certain types of oral contraceptive to women without a prescription.…

European drug safety agency concludes Valette can be used for moderate acne

The hormonal contraceptive Valette (dienogest/ethinylestradiol; Bayer) can continue to be used to treat women with moderate acne, following a safety review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). …