Contraceptive study approved by council

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 8

Contraceptive study approved by council

PA Auckland A controversial study to examine the benefits and risks from long-term use of the Pill, I.U.D. and DepoProvera should continue, the Medical Research Council says. The council’s standing committee on therapeutic trials said the study, involving 7500 New Zealand women, had been the victim of misconceived criticism and emotional and subjective public discussion. The committee began reviewing the study’s protocol last year after public concern that it was paid for by the Upjohn Company which manufactures Depo-Pro-vera.

Critics suggested the company might try to use information gained to market their drug in other countries.

Professor Graham Liggins, of the Post-Graduate School of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Auckland, said he had asked Upjohn to pay for the project, but the study was an indepdentent

work. “All information is the property of the study and Upjohn has no more right to influence the research than the Medical Research Council has in relation to the research work it supports. If this were not so, the study would not have proceeded.” The council report, by Professor John Scott of the Auckland Medical School, said Professor Liggins and his team had acted in a very responsible way during the committee’s consideration of his study. Professor Scott said the New Zealand contraceptive and health study involved women who chose particular contraceptive methods on their own volition or after seeking medical advice. People not involved in the study had a different perspective of the involvement of Depo-Provera than Professor Liggins and his team, said Professor Scott. Questions might be raised in the public mind about the use of the drug in the study

when it had not been approved for use in the United States or Britain. That criticism might be intensified when it was known Upjohn was paying for the study, he said.

“Lack of objectivity in studying the protocol has been a feature of the trial by media which has characterised public discussion of ... the study. The consequences have, in general, been unfortunate and not in the best interests of New Zealand women or of medical science generally.” It had been suggested, he said, that New Zealand women were being used as substitutes for laboratory animals to gain knowledge about possible hazards of a particular contraceptive. The findings of the study would be analysed using Upjohn resources. The committee did not question the validity of the analysis, but said it was preferable for researchers to make analyses independently of any group with a potential financial interest in the outcome.