Birth Control News and Research

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Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

The recommendations of a federal task force on preventive care - once just suggestions for doctors - will soon become coverage requirements for private insurers under regulations unveiled Wednesday by the Obama administration, according to Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post. "Under the new health care overhaul law, insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an "A" or "B" recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts."

16 Jul 2010

Rules for free preventive services requirement to be announced

During a Wednesday news conference, the Obama administration is expected to unveil regulations showing which preventive services insurers will be required to provide free-of-charge to consumers under the health overhaul law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

15 Jul 2010

Fear of having something in uterus deters teen girls from using intrauterine devices for birth control

Very few teenage girls in the United States use intrauterine devices for birth control, even though studies show they are safe, effective and extremely low-maintenance, according to researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford School of Medicine.

9 Jul 2010

Hormonal contraceptives are less effective for birth control in overweight or obese women: Study

As obesity continues to be a worldwide health risk, one of its "side effects" could include less effective birth control for overweight and obese women who use hormonal contraceptives.

9 Jul 2010

KHN column – Insuring your health: Should patients get contraceptives from health plans at no cost?

"The average American woman who wants two children spends roughly five years trying to get pregnant or being pregnant. She spends a much longer time - 30 years, on average - trying to avoid pregnancy, often at no small expense. That may soon change, at least the expense part" (7/6).

7 Jul 2010

Some state insurance commissioners push back on Fed premium rate reviews

Politico: Some state insurance commissioners are not happy with a proposal that would give the federal government the authority to centralize premium rate reviews of health insurance.

7 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 6, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include news about GOP efforts to repeal the health reform law as well as state-related developments.

6 Jul 2010

Ninth Circuit rules in favor of ACLJ in multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood affiliates

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in favor of the American Center for Law and Justice's (ACLJ) client in a multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood (PP) affiliates in California. ACLJ attorneys are representing a former employee of the PP affiliate in Los Angeles, who is now a federal whistleblower. A federal district court in California had dismissed the case, but the Ninth Circuit's ruling, dated yesterday, reinstates the lawsuit.

3 Jul 2010

Genentech's second Phase III ICON7 study of Avastin in ovarian cancer meets primary endpoint

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced today that a second large, Phase III, international study showed that the combination of Avastin® (bevacizumab) and chemotherapy, followed by the continued use of Avastin alone, increased the time women with previously untreated ovarian cancer lived without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS, the primary endpoint), compared to chemotherapy alone.

2 Jul 2010

News round up: UniCare will drop health coverage for Virginians; Hawaii concerned about lack of physicians

The Washington Post: "About 3,000 Virginians who have health insurance through UniCare, a private insurer, will lose that coverage Jan. 1, a UniCare spokesman said Monday. Most live in Northern Virginia and get their coverage through the individual market, officials said.

30 Jun 2010

Merck proposes to initiate Phase II proof-of-concept clinical study of posaconazole for chronic Chagas disease

Merck today announced plans to initiate a Phase II investigational proof-of-concept clinical study to evaluate its oral antifungal agent posaconazole for the treatment of chronic Chagas disease. Chagas disease results from infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is spread by biting insects. The disease is estimated to affect approximately eight million people in Latin America, of whom approximately 30-40 percent will develop serious cardiac disease, digestive disease, or both as a result of this infection.

24 Jun 2010

Risk, incidence of VTE differs between races

A new study of 1,960 White-Americans and 368 Black-Americans with objectively diagnosed venous thromboembolism (VTE) showed that, compared to Whites, Blacks had a significantly higher proportion with pulmonary embolism (PE), including idiopathic PE among Black women, and a significantly higher proportion of Blacks with VTE were women (71% vs 61% for Whites) The study is published today in the American Journal of Hematology.

24 Jun 2010

Ferring announces availability of LYSTEDA for cyclic heavy menstrual bleeding in U.S.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the U.S. commercial availability of LYSTEDA™ (tranexamic acid) tablets, the only non-hormonal and non-surgical therapy indicated specifically for the treatment of women with cyclic heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). In clinical studies, LYSTEDA significantly reduced menstrual blood loss (MBL) over three and six cycles of use with the reduction seen as early as the first cycle of use.

21 Jun 2010

Advisory panel recommends FDA approve new "morning after" pill

The New York Times: A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel Thursday recommended that the agency approve "a medicine that could help prevent pregnancy if taken as late as five days after unprotected sex. The pill, called ella, sprang from government labs and appears to be more effective than Plan B, a morning-after pill now available over the counter to women 18 and older that gradually loses efficacy after intercourse and can be taken at latest three days after sex.

18 Jun 2010

Bayer sues Teva, Barr in connection with oral contraceptive Gianvi

Today, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer Schering Pharma AG sued Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Barr Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Barr Laboratories, Inc. in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) for false advertising and patent infringement in connection with Teva's generic oral contraceptive, Gianvi™. Teva's product is sold as a generic version of Bayer HealthCare's leading oral contraceptive YAZ®.

16 Jun 2010

DermaGenoma releases CelluliteDX Genetic Test for women

As summer swimsuit season heats up, women around the world will inspect their looks in the mirror. A majority of them will see cellulite - at some point - but a new genetic test may be able to help them avoid cellulite before anyone notices.

10 Jun 2010

First clinical trial among African women to test vaginal ring that prevents HIV transmission

The nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides today announced the initiation of the first trial among women in Africa testing a vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral drug that could one day be used to prevent HIV transmission during sex. The clinical trial, known as IPM 015, tests the safety and acceptability of an innovative approach that adapts a successful technology from the reproductive health field to give women around the world a tool to protect themselves from HIV infection.

9 Jun 2010

Single semen test for clearance following vasectomy

Having to provide repeated semen samples following a vasectomy could soon be a thing of the past, after 96 per cent of men were given the all-clear based on a single test three months after surgery.

8 Jun 2010

Genentech reports results from Phase III study of Avastin in women with advanced ovarian cancer

Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, today announced results from a Phase III study of Avastin (bevacizumab) that showed women with previously untreated advanced ovarian cancer who received Avastin in combination with chemotherapy, followed by the continuation of Avastin alone, had a 39 percent improvement in the likelihood of living longer without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS) compared to chemotherapy alone.

7 Jun 2010

Antiemetic-regimen with fosaprepitant injection provides similar protection against CINV as oral EMEND

Merck announced today results from a new non-inferiority trial of an antiemetic regimen containing fosaprepitant dimeglumine administered as a single intravenous (IV) 150-mg dose in combination with a 5-HT3 antagonist and dexamethasone compared with a three-day regimen of aprepitant with a 5-HT3 antagonist and dexamethasone for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients receiving a first cycle of cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

4 Jun 2010