January 29, 2007
FDA Calls New Birth Control Pills 'Effective'

New types of birth control pills now reaching the market are as effective as older pills in preventing pregnancy, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said January 23. The FDA was responding to what it called inaccurate newspaper stories indicating that the newest hormonal contraceptives are significantly less effective than those approved decades ago. "In fact," the FDA said, "the newer generation products are highly effective in preventing pregnancy." The newspaper reports surfaced after the FDA convened a meeting of its Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss contraceptives. That meeting was intended, the FDA said, to determine how to design clinical trials so they will "reflect the diversity of users of hormonal contraceptives, expectations for efficacy and safety, and user acceptability of the newer products, including cycle control."

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