Safety of Birth Control and Contraception Challenged by Recent Reports about Harm to Women's Health

Aim: On the background of media reports about serious harm to the health of thousands of women engaged in birth control and contraception, the paper aims at clarifying the importance of the parameter safety in birth control and contraception.

Material and Method: The method consists in an in-depth analysis of those sources of information that are most-widely used by women and their health care providers, i.e., packaging labels of manufacturers and statements by the FDA. In addition, the information presented by high-ranked scholarly journals, which are most commonly accessed by healthcare professionals, is analysed.

Findings: Presently, women are not in a position to find reliable information suitable for preventing harm and injury caused by contraceptive drugs and devices. Heath care providers do not always comply with the requirements of the principle of informed consent, despite urgings by manufacturers and the FDA.

Conclusion: In view of presently available information it is difficult for women to access comprehensive, complete, and reliable information on the safety of methods of contraception. Counsel through health care providers is difficult to obtain, because doctors are frequently guided by the economic principle of cost effectiveness.

Keywords: contraception; sterilization; healthcare provider; pharmaceutical company; bioethics; FDA.