 | I loved the start of this film from the Victoria Derbyshire programme. At last, women with terrible experiences with contraception services were getting a hearing. We heard about side effects, and trouble getting a diaphragm. Unfortunately, it didn't follow up on these concerns, or look into how to improve support for non-hormonal methods of contraception Instead it concentrates on the massive cuts |
to contraception services. Of course these are a bad thing and we want to make sure women have access to all methods of contraception, including hormonal methods, but it did feel like Big Pharma got a bit of an easy ride.
I'd have also liked to see some firm questions about whether drug company funding might influence the priorities of the Advisory Group for Contraception.
I'd also like to know if Bayer reassure the public that they are not, like Pfizer, overcharging the NHS for their products? Especially when it comes to emergency contraception?
And could they sign up to the All Trials campaign for all research trials to be registered and reported? Bayer has funded a huge amount of research but has yet to join the campaign. Their research could provide huge benefits for women’s health – and help to answer some of the questions about side effects and risks.
These are important points. You don't have to be Ben Goldacre to know it's not a good look for clinicians or policy makers to have too cosy a relationship with Big Pharma, or to push their products too hard.
At the moment, many of us don't tell our doctors how we avoid pregnancy because we can't face their disapproval. We use condoms, fertility awareness, apps, withdrawal - and back it all up with a "just in case" supply of emergency contraception.
These methods can all work well, but you need to know what you're doing. We need support, not lectures. As one of the women says in this Debrief report “if we can fly robots to Mars surely we can come to understand women’s health and serve women better than we do now?”
Find out more about using fertility awareness as contraception
I'd have also liked to see some firm questions about whether drug company funding might influence the priorities of the Advisory Group for Contraception.
I'd also like to know if Bayer reassure the public that they are not, like Pfizer, overcharging the NHS for their products? Especially when it comes to emergency contraception?
And could they sign up to the All Trials campaign for all research trials to be registered and reported? Bayer has funded a huge amount of research but has yet to join the campaign. Their research could provide huge benefits for women’s health – and help to answer some of the questions about side effects and risks.
These are important points. You don't have to be Ben Goldacre to know it's not a good look for clinicians or policy makers to have too cosy a relationship with Big Pharma, or to push their products too hard.
At the moment, many of us don't tell our doctors how we avoid pregnancy because we can't face their disapproval. We use condoms, fertility awareness, apps, withdrawal - and back it all up with a "just in case" supply of emergency contraception.
These methods can all work well, but you need to know what you're doing. We need support, not lectures. As one of the women says in this Debrief report “if we can fly robots to Mars surely we can come to understand women’s health and serve women better than we do now?”
Find out more about using fertility awareness as contraception