Depo-Provera on U.K. market

Press, 8 February 1985, Page 4

Depo-Provera on U.K. market

NZPA staff correspondent London The contraceptive drug, Depo-Provera, which has been suspected of being linked with cancer, was launched on the British market this week. Worries about the injectable drug’s safety has led to the United States Food and Drug Administration’s refusing to license it, and the World Health Organisation said last year that women who used Depo-Provera were twice as likely to contract cervical cancer. Its conclusion was based on data collected from more

than 8000 women in Kenya, Mexico, and Thailand. However, the drug’s maker, the pharmaceuticals giant, Upjohn, has said that the W.H.O. report did not prove Depo-Provera caused cancer. It says the risk is comparable to that of the contraceptive pill. Britain’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Donald Acheson, has written to all_ general practitioners and familyplanning doctors urging them to give patients full and clear information before prescribing the drug. In addition, the Health Department has ordered

that a leaflet outlining the drug’s side-effects be given to all patients. The leai flet lists heavy and irregular bleeding followed by an iibsence of periods, back-acl he, weight gain and depressk >n: it does not mention cervical cancer. Depo-Provera is a lon, glasting contraceptive that is injected once every thre ie months. According to the “Guard - ian” newspaper, only oni J British woman in a thou • sand is expected to use the s drug as a long-term contraceptive.