Birth Control Pills
With a target population of millions of women, contraceptive drugs are among the pharmaceutical classes the industry is most interested in. Birth control pills are indeed a mass market product. However, in the early years of 2000’s emerging signals and studies showed that the oral contraceptives of “new generation” come with a thrombosis and pulmonary embolism risk two to four times greater than the older pills.
The saga of birth control pills of 3rd and 4th generation is a textbook case of health and regulatory system dysfunction: conflicts of interest, biased studies, a lot of money and many lies.
Investigative documentaries:
They have been promoted as “lighter” and marketed as life-style products – a magic bullet against acne and premenstrual syndrome. However, 3rd and 4th generation of birth control pills bring more risks than the older generation’ ones. Three TV investigative stories by Serena Tinari featured the regulatory history of these contraceptives, their marketing, and the maze of conflicts of interest that surround their prescription.
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2009: “I rischi delle pillole” (The pills’ dangers)
Swiss public TV show Falò RSI (in Italian)
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2011: “Una spina nel cuore” (A thorn into the heart)
Swiss public TV show Falò RSI (in Italian).
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2014: “Occhio alla pillola” (Watch out with the pill)
Swiss public TV show Patti chiari RSI (in Italian), with additional investigation by Catherine Riva. Video available here.
PODC – Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference:
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2018:
At the 2018 Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference (PODC) Re-Check presented a poster in conversation on “Ghost Management in Medicine and Public Health” that included a map about 3rd and 4th generation oral contraceptives. The abstract was published in a special edition of BMJ-Evidence-Based Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bmjebm-2018-111070.105
