New Year-Round Contraceptive Pill Safe and Effective

"The main advantage is that this continuous pill provides a lower dose than other continuous oral contraceptive pills like, Seasonale," said Dr. Philip D. Darney, chief of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at San Francisco General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco.

"Women who want to avoid menses and take a pill continuously, which for some women may provide greater efficacy and fewer side effects, will be able to use an 'ultra low-dose' pill, which may have some advantages for rare adverse effects of oral contraceptives, like thrombosis," Archer said. "Still, the main reason for stopping this pill was bleeding disruptions, so, it won't suit all pill users."

Another expert is concerned with the high number of women who continued to experience bleeding while taking the pill.

"I think continuous contraception is a great idea," said Dr. Camelia Davtyan, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Nevertheless, the rate of uterine bleeding-related complications is quite high."

Davtyan thinks that to really test its efficacy, this new pill should be tested against the standard birth-control pill in a clinical trial. In addition, she said she is concerned that nothing is known about any side effects from the long-term use of this pill.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration can tell you more about birth control.

SOURCES: David F. Archer, M.D., professor, obstetrics and gynecology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk; Philip D. Darney, M.D., professor and chief, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco; Camelia Davtyan, M.D., assistant professor, medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; December 2006,Contraception