Sarah Haskins of Target Women, a recurring segment on Current TV’s weekly television show, infoMania, is known to some for her take on the often-ridiculous way the media reaches out to women. In this episode she tackles birth control commercials from Seasonique, Yaz and NuvaRing.
The contraceptive business has boomed since the birth control pill hit the market 50 years ago. Now birth control comes in the form of pills, patches, rings, implants and intrauterine devices, and the makers of such products claim they are even safer than before. Judging by the thousands lawsuits filed by women who claim they suffered life-threatening blood clots, strokes and gallbladder problems because of the contraceptives, safety may still be an issue. But Salon.com opinion editor Geraldine Sealey claims birth control pills brought on another, less known, side effect – the loss of her libido.
Next month the birth control pill celebrates its 50th birthday in the United States. Since then, women’s choices in contraceptives have branched out from pills to patches and implants and injections and so on. Despite the many options now available, there are about 3.1 million unplanned pregnancies each year. Some speculate that women just don’t feel safe taking birth control.
Another contraceptive for women is finding its way into the courtroom, following in the footsteps of Bayer Healthcare’s Yaz pill and Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho Evra patch. This time Merck & Co. Inc., is facing a slew of lawsuits over the drug company’s Nuvaring. Plaintiffs claim that the “first and only, once-a-month vaginal birth control ring” is more dangerous than older and equally effective products on the market and has caused them to develop life-threatening blood clots.
