The decline in sales of new generation pills continues. Health insurance also confirms the doubled risk of pulmonary embolism with these oral contraceptives.
Sales of new generation pills are still declining! It is within the framework of its action plan on combined oral contraceptives (Coc), that the National Medicines Safety Agency (Ansm) publishes this Wednesday a new update of the data on the evolution of the use of these contraceptives in France.
And the trend observed in recent months continued at the end of May, with a 43% drop in prescriptions for 3rd and 4th generation pills and a 34% increase in 2nd generation pills (compared to May 2012). The share of sales of 1st and 2nd generation Cocs is now 73%.
By the way, the Ansm welcomes the relevance of the practices of prescribers since last December. For the Agency, “their prescriptions go largely in the direction of minimizing the risks associated with Coc”.
As for the sales of other non-oral estrogen-progestogen contraceptives (vaginal rings in particular), they for their part have fallen by around 11%.
Conversely, sales of other devices (implants, IUDs) increased by 25%. The most marked concerns copper intrauterine devices with an increase of 43%.
However, these changes in the method of contraception of French women obviously have no effect on voluntary terminations of pregnancy. The follow-up carried out by the Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics Department (DREES) until February 2013 does not show any particular evolution of abortions.
In addition, the results of the study carried out by the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnamts) in conjunction with the Ansm on the risks of different generations of Coc and involving more than 4 million women confirm those of recent studies. international with the existence of a doubling of the risk of pulmonary embolism with 3rd generation Cocs compared to that of 2nd generation. This research also shows that 2nd generation Cocs with the lowest estrogen content are associated with lower risks of pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction.
Finally, remember that these data are included in the file presented to European bodies by Ansm. The conclusions of the European arbitration, the procedure for which was initiated in January 2013 by France with a view to restricting the use of 3rd and 4th generation COCs in second intention, are expected in the fall, after a first evaluation by the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (Prac) during the month of July 2013.
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