Hormonal Contraception Choices

The concept of birth control has been around for nearly as long as human civilization has been. Through the generations of innovation in the time line of human progress have helped engineer an assortment of medications and products intended to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

For more than 50 years, there have been incredible leaps in innovation regarding the modern contraceptive with the invention and proliferation of the birth control pill. “The Pill,” as it is known, uses a combination of different hormones to fool the female body into believing that it is pregnant when it is not. This prevents the attachment of a fertilized egg in the female reproductive organs, thus disallowing actual pregnancy following intercourse.

For the most part, these pills work well, and deliver what is promised. However, there are side effects, and considerable drawbacks to their use. Many of the side effects of the first generation pills were quite unpleasant. On top of that, “The Pill” only worked when each pill of a 21- or 27-pill cycle was adhered to strictly, with no deviation whatsoever. This has proved exceptionally difficult for people to accomplish, thus the failure rate of oral contraception is remarkably higher due to user error.

Also, oral contraception also has a way of being completely disrupted by antibiotic medications, meaning that if a woman has an illness and is taking antibiotics, she is not protected from unwanted pregnancy, even if she is taking the pill as prescribed.

To prevent these problems, a new type of hormonal contraceptive was produced and distributed that was meant to be as free from user error as possible. Labeled as an “insert and forget” contraceptive, Nuvaring was the birth control measure that many women had long been waiting for.

Nuvaring is an inner vaginal ring that secretes a mix of hormones into the blood stream, much the same way as a birth control pill does. Nuvaring differs, though, in that it is simply a plastic ring that a woman inserts into her vagina at the beginning of her monthly menstrual cycle.

As it turns out, women have reported many dangerous side effects after using Nuvaring to prevent unwanted pregnancy. One of the most serious of these side effects is venous thrombosis, more commonly known as blood clots. Blood clots are an extremely serious health risk, as a blood clot that makes it into the brain or the heart can be immediately fatal. Often, there is little warning about the development of blood clots in the circulatory system until it is too late. In fact, several women who have used the Nuvaring contraceptive device have died from the complications of blood clots, heart disease and stroke brought about by the birth control measure.

Grant Harris is the author of this article on Nuvaring Lawyers. Find more information about Nuvaring Lawsuit Settlements here.