Sponge Birth Control Is Back

[Cerridwen]

April 23, 2005 E-mail story Print Most E-Mailed

SCIENCE FILE
Sponge Birth Control Is Back


By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer

The Today Sponge, once the most popular female over-the-counter contraceptive in the country, is coming back on the U.S. market after 10 years in limbo.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved sale of the contraceptive and it will be available soon on the website of its manufacturer, Allendale Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Company president Gene Detroyer said Friday that the Today Sponge should be in stores this summer.

"Anytime the FDA approves a contraceptive method it is important," said Lawrence B. Finer of the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on reproductive health. "The more methods there are, the better the chances that someone is going to find one that is a good fit for him or her. Anecdotally, we certainly hear that there is a demand."

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http://tinyurl.com/954om


edit to clean up back copy paste - erk, my bad

[patricia92243]

1. Is it the exact same thing? If not, what is the difference n/t

[Cerridwen]

2. Looks like the same sponge manufactured by a company

that was interested in spending the money to "clean up" the manufacturing process and jump through the FDA's hoops to get it back on the market.

"American Home Products (now Wyeth) -- former maker of the sponge -- stopped production in March 1994. The company "had manufacturing problems," says Cruzan.

American Home Products decided not to upgrade the plant where the sponge was made after the FDA pointed out the problems, says an FDA statement from January 1995.

Allendale Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to the sponge at the end of 1998. "We've done a lot of upgrades to the equipment, plant, chemistry, and procedures to come out with a product that's safe and effective," says Staab.

The sponge's basic safety and effectiveness were never in question; only manufacturing approval was needed for production to resume. "

http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/104/107599.htm

[kcass1954]

3. I loved the sponge. Glad it's back, even if it's too late for me.

I haven't been able to take the pill in 20 years. I found the sponge to be very reliable and easy to use. Ironically, when they took it off the market and I used up my supply, I got pregnant - at 41.