Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 12

BZ The Edmonton Journal, Sunday. September 25, 1994 Norplant hormonal contraception system: How the capsules are inserted -Women should be careful fof using Norplant capsules, fJEdmonton doctor says Norplant capsules A 2 mm incision is made through the skin. Six Norplant capsules are then inserted in a fan-shape arrangement Over time, the capsules are absorbed by the body. Alberta th first provinc to indude Norplant in its provincial drug plan. Individual Biue Cross subscriber are eligible for 70 per cent of the $475 cost There is an addrtiooal insertion fee about $100 that isnt covered by Alberta Hearth or Biue Cross.

It costs another $100 or so to have it removed. Norplant is a long-term birth-control system made up of six tubes Inserted in a woman's arm. The tubes contain the hormone levonorgestrel. which prevents ovulation. POINT-COUNTERPOINT Houston lawyer Harold Dampier represents hundreds of women who claim they were permanentty injired by Norplant! a five-year birth-control device that's implanted on the inside of a woman's arm.

Dr. Robert London, a U.S. birth-control expert, says there's no scientific link between Norplant and the women's claims. POINT: Norplant capsules can get lost in a woman's body and require a delicate, sometimes painful removal process that can leave permanent and unsightly scars. COUNTERPOINT: Lost or "wandering" capsules are the fault of untrained doctors who Improperly inserted the match stick-size tubes and have nothing to do with the product or its effectiveness.

POINT: Norplant causes birth defects in children of women who took the drug. COUNTERPOINT: Decades of studies on levonorgestrel, the hormone in Norplant and most oral contraceptives such as Triphasfl, the most commonly prescribed birth control pin hi Canada, show no there is noHink to congenital defects. The incidence of birth defects in children of women taking Norplant is no higher than the In the general population. POINT: Norplant causes tumors, blindness and other eye problems because the hormone causes a buildup of fluid on the optic nerve. COUNTERPOINT: Studies show the incidence of tumors, blindness and other eye problems is the same among Norplant users as the general population.

POINT: Norplant has been used as method of population control in Third-World countries where women have little say over their bodies and are afraid to report side-effects. Most studies on Norplant were done in the Third World Studies hi the United States didnt include control groups. COUNTERPOINT: There are dozens of clinical tests on Norplant in the United States which have verified its safety and effectiveness. injuries besides scarring and other problems related to the removal of the implants, which are inserted in a woman's arm. In one case, a 14-year-old girl is blind in one eye because of a tumor on her optic nerve that doctors attribute to Norplant The girl's parents put her on Norplant after a pregnancy, believing she wouldn't remember to take birth-control pills.

"The serious injuries that we're seeing in my cases are related to a defective product," Dampier says. "There may be some related to the removal of the product, the majority with a defective product" Norplant manufacturers Wyeth-Ayerst Canada Ltd. and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories in the U.S. are contesting all the lawsuits. They say problems with removal are the fault of doctors who weren't properly trained to remove Norplant and that allegations of other medical and psychological problems arent related to the drug.

Dr. Robert London, a birth-control specialist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore says Norplant is as safe as the pill and disputes every claim against it. "If you can take birth control pills, I think you should. But if for some reason or another you can't here's an alternative," London said. That's what 28-year-old Dawn Valenzuela thought when she went on Norplant in 1991.

She has since lost both ovaries because of severe hemorrhaging and can no longer have children. Valenzuela says doctors in months, it's virtually out of your system." Robson says women considering Norplant should try Depo-Provera first because it contains the same hormone and has identical side-effects. Both birth-control methods have been condemned by women's groups as potential tools of social control that could be forced on poor or uneducated women. They also say Norplant takes away women's control over their bodies because it has to be inserted by a doctor. But Planned Parenthood's Liz McCord says Edmonton women have to sift though the propaganda from the manufacturers and the hype surrounding alleged side-effects.

"So far we don't see any reason to be unduly alarmed about the drug itself," she says. LAURA KING Gender Issues Writer Edmonton lis Norplant an untested time-bomb waiting to go off in women's bodies? Or is it reliable, long-term birth control that has been getting a bad rap from women's groups, the Catholic church, and lawyers looking for big bucks? There's no medical evidence I linking the hormone-implant tubes to the devastating side- effects claimed by thousands of women in lawsuits in at least six U.S. states. But lawyer Harold Dampier of Houston says there's no guarantee Norplant didn't cause the sterility, blindness and hemorrhaging in the women he represents. "Among the complications that we hear are abdominal pain, severe depression, massive weight gain of up to 100 pounds in three or four months, excessive bleeding to the point of losing reproductive organs birth defects," says Dampier, head of the Norplant litigation committee for the American Trial Lawyers Association.

Dampier said he has had 1,800 calls from women on Norplant since he filed a class-action suit in Texas claiming the device causes not only side-effects, but also permanent, irreversible injuries. Such suits are supposed to be representative of groups of people in this case, all adult women who might be injured by Norplant. "-Dampier's lawsuit differs from ifce others because it claims If Dr. D. Plotsky, Dr.

J. Evans and Dr. S. Tromposch are pleased to announce their association with: Dr. W.G.

Garlock Optometrist Downtown Sherwood Park Clareview 307, 10080 Jasper Ave. 114, 937 Fir St 211,14065 victoria Tr. 422-2681 467-2244 473-3998 City gasoline price war Pasadena, could find no reason for the hemorrhaging and havent ruled out Norplant "It was the worst experience of my entire life," she said in a phone interview. "If I had any idea, I would never have got it." She warns women looking for birth-control options to reject Norplant and fight to have it taken off the market. Dr.

Alex Robson, an Edmonton family doctor, agrees there are better alternatives and says Norplant is inflexible. "Once you've implanted it, you either leave it for five years or you take it out and you lose your money." Robson prefers Depo-Provera, an injected form of levonorgestrel the hormone which prevents ovulation that lasts for three months and is covered by Alberta Health. "If you don't like it after three OH, VICKY Hundreds of people shows up at Edmonton Centre Saturday to see actress Heather Tom, who plays Victoria Newman on The Young and the Restless as she signeds autographs and spoke to the crowd. Here, 13-year-old Helen Davidoff gets her chance to meet a TV star while getting her photo of Heather signed. The Journal joined Vancouver: 56.9 Edmonton: 43.8 Red Deer 52.9 Calgary: 52.9 Regina: 57.9 Ottawa: 51 .9 Halifax: 52.9 Inuvik, N.W.TJ 72 (Prices for regular-grade gas) throughout the week.

"The Propane Shack up the street is usually the first one in this area to kick it off," said Darcy Nimchuk, who works the Clare-view Gasland pumps at 12986 50th St. WHmfm tn ttm mtmrmT Your HOROSCOPE Journal Khen you come to Spokane, you get i hm-tcw. nice-tostm. barefy-jm getaway all vwppei into a nice httk package. Cflfl our toll-free number to We'll send you information on getaway packages as veil as dining, entertainment and accommodations.

r7 Pick a package to Spokane. B.C. man killed in collision Journal Staff Edmonton A B.C. man was killed when his truck careened into another vehicle near Spruce Grove Saturday. Gordon Christensen of Caw-ston, B.C., was westbound on Highway 627 when the wheels of his truck hit the edge of the pavement sending him into an oncoming vehicle.

OH GASH Complete contest details 1(2 AND JIM FARRELL Journal Staff Writer Edmonton Price skirmishes broke out this week at street corners throughout Edmonton as the city's latest gas war ignited. Service station owners report customers are flocking to the pumps after the prices on regular self-serve gas dropped as low as 43.8 cents a litre. "Three days ago it dropped from 49.8 to 47.9," said Michael Hauck, the assistant manager of the Parkview Petro-Canada station. "Then last night it dropped to 43.8. The reason we did it is that basically business has been Fill out this cheque.

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