The Student Health Center now offers generic birth control pills in an effort to keep the cost to students down, according to Student Health Center Director Dan Bruey. The use of the new pills also expands the range of contraceptive options beyond a pair of drugs, which a national organization wants banned.
Before this school year, the only contraceptive pills the Health Center offered were Desogen and Cyclessa, Bruey said. Both pills contain desogestrel, a type of hormone that some studies have shown doubles the risk of developing blood clots.
Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to pull pills that contained desogestrel from the market earlier this year, according to an Associated Press report from Feb. 6. The petition found on Public Citizen's Web site said desogestrel doubles the usual risk of blood clots associated with other oral contraceptives. The petition also claims that researchers have found no benefits to the use of desogestrel.
The Health Center was aware of the warnings and controversy surrounding the two pills, Bruey said.
"We have not discontinued those yet - that was something we were going to closely monitor this year," he said.
Vanessa Mueller, director of Women's Initiative and a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said she encouraged the Health Center to provide students with resources on the risks of the drugs it dispenses.
"It is also important that the center continue to supply a wide variety of options for women and to continue to monitor the safety and health risks of various drugs," she said.
The Health Center now offers generic contraceptives because the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 excludes college health centers from discounts previously offered by pharmaceutical companies, making brand name contraceptives more expensive for students, Bruey said.
The Health Center still offers brand names Desogen and Cyclessa. However, the price for each drug has increased to $25 - a $10 jump from previous years. Students can now purchase generic versions of those pills, as well as generic versions of Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri-Cyclen, which do not contain desogestrel, for $15. NuvaRing is available for $35.
"Students can discuss all of those risks with the medical provider who is going to lead the students through what might be best for them," Bruey said.
Ultimately, it is up to the patient to ask questions of her health care provider.
"[Women's Initiative] encourages AU students to ask as many questions of their health care provider as possible, regardless of the type of birth control they use," Mueller said. "Only by being well-educated about their health will students be able to choose the method of contraception that is the best for them"
