Just found this new blog, Sweetening the Pill, which is all about spreading the bad news of the BCP, and empowering women to find something better.
Take her poll: Have you experienced negative side effects of the Pill?
5 Responses to Have You Experienced Negative Side Effects of the Pill?
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I just read this case that came out of the Appellate Court of Connecticut: A 45 year old woman experiencing menopausal symptoms went to see her doctor. The doctor put her on hormonal birth control. One month later, the woman was experiencing a strange leg pain and died of a blood clot shortly thereafter. The appellate court remanded for a new trial, finding that a reasonable jury could find that that the doctor’s failure to warn this woman of the risks associated with birth control contributed to her death. See Curran v. Kroll 118 Conn. App. 401 (Dec. 15, 2009). The court explained how knowledge of the serious side effects could have saved this woman’s life because she might have sought more immediate medical care.
So, cheers to those spreading the word about the pill’s negative side effects! Apparently, this knowledge can save lives.
That’s insane, but unfortunately all too common. How would I find details on the case? Thanks for the support, Lauren! Spreading news about negative side effects far too often overlooked through lack of knowledge, bad decision making, and in the worst cases, greed, is an uphill battle. Interesting story I’m working on: a friend just sent me this MSN article talking up the pill, which to me seemed to be a thinly veiled attempt at correcting the anti-Pill PR out in the last couple months (the bone mass studies, stories about women being fed up pub’d in the MSM, etc.). To lend cred to the article, they had a med consultant for the article. He works at a medical college, so he must be really objective and scientific and smart, right? Something slightly suspicious there, I thought. Sure enough, after some minimal online research, this doc is a total cheerleader for the Pill, mistaken called by some an “expert” on contraception. I dug a little more, and found out that not only is he a stockholder in contraceptive makers, has done research funded by contraceptive makers, but also has served as adviser contraceptive companies. What.
Jess, here is a link to the full judicial opinion, published in the Connecticut Law Journal last month: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP118/118AP41.pdf.
An “expert” whose bank account is beholden to the contraception companies? Sounds like good objective journalism to me!
Thanks for the link. Glad you think there’s a conflict of interest there with Doc Pill-Moneybags!
The only negative side effects come from user error. Take for instance, the Duggar family. Very popular for their stance against BCP. Well, the reason she’s against it is because she didn’t take the pill correctly. She became pregnant, didn’t realize it, and miscarried. There were other factors behind that, as well, that the public doesn’t know. Because the pill does not cause abortions if a pregnancy occurs. It is not harmful for a developing fetus because the hormones are already present in the mother’s body, just at different levels at different times.
People who claim to have gotten pregnant while on the pill most likely did not follow the directions and missed pills or didn’t take them at the same time everyday, resulting in the necessary constant level of hormones to drop, allowing pregnancy. Personally, I advocate the use of the pill, AS WELL AS the use of a condom. There is next to no chance that you will become pregnant that way. Especially if you use a spermicidal lubricant-type condom. Trojan offers them.
Another thing people tend to overlook is that the BCP/patch/IUD allows you to have sex whenever you want (aside from your period, which allows you to enjoy pleasure virtually AT ANY TIME. Whereas NFP only allows you to enjoy pleasure at a certain time of the month. For like 2 weeks when the woman is least fertile. IDK about you, but it seems to me like NFP is the short end of the stick. A couple that is married and loves each other and all that should be able to have sex whenever they want, not just when nature dictates it (other than the menstrual cycle). When you have to plan your sexual acts around your uterus, sex loses its spontaneity and fun.
Personally, if I ever have kids, I will not teach them abstinence only. I certainly hope that they would wait until they met the right person before they had sex, whether it be their wedding night or beforehand. I want my child(ren) to be as prepared as possible. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to teach my 3 year old about sex the same way you’d teach a 13 year old. But I want my kids to understand the process and what will happen. Knowledge is power. When you prevent your child from knowledge, they lose power over themselves.
I’d rather have my 16 year old daughter/son being responsible in his or her sexual acts and protecting themselves than have them risk getting a STD or worse.