Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Researchers decided to end a trial of what proved to be a very effective form of birth control for men because the subjects suffered side effects such as depression and mood changes – which raises the question of why women were dismissed and told the same symptoms were “all in their minds” when the female version of the pill was in the testing phase.
CBS is reporting on an international study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, which documents a new form of contraception for men.The drug consists of a hormone injection that drastically lowers sperm count. Of the 266 married men who participated in the study, only four became fathers.
However, researchers stopped the study early because so many of the subjects were experiencing mood changes and depression similar to what women have long experienced while taking the pill – only the latter’s complaints were dismissed as being “all in your mind.”
The irony of this situation has not been missed.
When discussing why pharmaceutical companies aren’t rushing to produce the male contraceptive, CBS medical contributor Dr. Tara Narula stated: “Their concern may be there’s a lack of profitability, maybe there is a question of gender bias.”
Maybe?
Let’s take a look back in time to the notorious 1956 birth control pill trials that were conducted on poor and mostly illiterate Puerto Rican women, none of whom were aware that they were experimental subjects. Volunteers had to be under 40 years of age, have given birth to at least two children, be fertile and in good health. They also had to agree to give birth should they become pregnant.
The dosage these women were given was much higher than what is in use today and caused a myriad of serious side effects such as blood clotting which caused the death of three women during the trials. Other side effects included nausea, bloating, and weight gain.
Dr. Edris Rice-Wray, a faculty member of the Puerto Rico Medical School and medical director of the Puerto Rico Family Planning Association, was placed in charge of the trials. After a year of testing, she reported that the pill was 100 percent effective – but 17 percent of the women in the study suffered side effects so severe as to be unacceptable.
Her concerns were dismissed by John Rock and Gregory Pincus, the two inventors of the first pill which was marketed as Enovid.
“Their patients in Boston had experienced far fewer negative reactions, and they believed many of the complaints were psychosomatic,” PBS reports. “The men also felt that problems such as bloating and nausea were minor compared to the contraceptive benefits of the drug. Although three women died while participating in the trials, no investigation was conducted to see if the Pill had caused the young women’s deaths. Confident in the safety of the Pill, Pincus and Rock took no action to assess the root cause of the side effects.”
We have been told for years that complaints about hormonal contraceptive side effects are “all in your mind” while the drugs remain on the market. Men make the same complaints and expensive research studies are immediately put on hold.
This isn’t just gender bias – it’s a deadly double standard that has already cost too many women their lives!
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Click here for a free downloadable pamphlet entitled, “Women’s Lives Matter” that documents the long and sordid history of birth control in America.
