ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040042
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: health notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
"Morning-after" medication was, as Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler said last week, "the best-kept contraceptive secret." And Amy Haselton, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge Inc., says she's delighted that the word is now out.
For years, Western Virginia women could receive dosages of Lo/Ovral from Planned Parenthood in Roanoke, but the public announcement will make it easier for more women to avoid unwanted pregnancies, Haselton believes.
No law prevented use of the pills for emergency contraception, but now it's OK to talk about it.
Haselton also hopes that the way the ``morning-after'' pills work will make them acceptable to persons who oppose abortion.
It's known that the emergency contraceptive pills inhibit implantation of a fertilized egg, but recent studies suggest that they also work by inhibiting ovulation, the release of the egg for fertilization, she said.
The process is different from what happens with the controversial RU-486, the abortion pill developed in France and due for approval in this country by the end of the year. RU-486 ends a pregnancy.
For the "morning-after" pills to be effective, though, a woman must act quickly.
The pills must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, which means if the accident happens on Friday night, a woman has until Monday night to use the pills. It would be better if she began the dosage on Saturday though.
The sooner the pills are taken the more effective they are in preventing pregnancy. If a woman has unprotected sex at the fertile time of her menstrual cycle, then she has a 30-percent change of becoming pregnant; the "morning-after" dosage cuts that chance to 8 percent, Haselton said.
Use of the pills has been on the increase since the FDA first discussed them a year ago. She said the clinic prescribes them maybe three or four times a month.
"We frequently see people who use birth control responsibly, but they call and say the condom broke," she said.
The clinic does not provide the pills to women who regularly take birth control pills but forget to take a dosage.
"We have had a couple of women call to say, 'I messed up on my birth control pills, can I just take more of them and take more of them in 12 hours?' We would not prescribe this for people already on oral contraceptives who didn't take them correctly. That would mean a high dose of hormones for them," Haselton said.
A "morning-after" visit at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Roanoke costs $54, including medicine and tests.
Here's how the process works:
nA woman has unprotected sex, or her birth control fails, so she goes to the Planned Parenthood clinic where she is asked for a medical history, signs an informed consent, gets a short examination and is given a pregnancy test. No pelvic exam is required unless the woman has unexplained bleeding.
nThe pregnancy test is not to find out if she got pregnant the night before, because it won't tell that, but to determine if a pregnancy existed before the unprotected intercourse, Haselton said.
nThe clinic will not give the pills to a woman who is pregnant even though the "morning-after" pills won't end a pregnancy nor do studies indicate taking the pills while pregnant would cause birth defects.
nOnce a woman takes the pills, the most common side effect is nausea, and it's usually mild and stops in about a day, Haselton said. Headaches, breast tenderness and fluid retention also are side effects. The pills will cause the beginning of a menstrual period.
Some women can't use the method at all, though. Women who have suffered a heart attack, or who have blood clotting disorders, high blood pressure, impaired liver function, gallbladder disease, or known or suspected breast or uterine cancer, stroke or undiagnosed, abnormal genital bleeding should not take the pills.
Women also should make certain they consult a doctor before trying the procedure. Not all birth control pills can be used. The FDA approved six brands as emergency contraception. These are the dosages:
Two white tablets of Ovral; four light orange tablets of Nordette; four white tablets of Lo/Ovral, four yellow tablets of Triphasil; four light orange tables of Levlen or four yellow tablets of Tri-Levlen. The colors indicate the pills' strength, so it's important to take the proper color.
You can reach Sandra Brown Kelly at 1-800-346-1234, x393, or 981-3393 or sandrak@roanoke.com.
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