Depo-Provera

We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.mb.ca

The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.

By now everyone has probably heard about the recall of the arthritis medication Vioxx off the market. Another drug that you may not have heard of, called Depo-Provera, is also causing some concern.

Depo-Provera is an injectable medication used to prevent pregnancy and to treat a condition where the lining of the uterus grows too much called endometriosis. It has been a popular method of birth control especially in younger women and adolescence because the injection only needs to be given every 3 months. As with other methods of hormonal birth control (e.g. the birth control pill) Depo-Provera was never intended to stop sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.

On Nov 18/04 Pfizer sent a letter to Health Care Professionals stating that “…we now have clinical data regarding the use of Depo-Provera and its associated effect on bone mineral density (BMD). The data suggest that women who use Depo-Provera may lose significant BMD. Bone loss is greater with increasing duration and may not be completely reversible.” So what does that mean? Women who use Depo-Provera may get weak bones. This may be a larger concern in adolescent women because they are still growing bone, so if that is interfered with, then that might lead to osteoporosis and broken bone when they are older.

Should all women who have ever taken a Depo-Provera injection panic? No. Depo-Provera may still be a reasonable choice for birth control and the treatment of endometriosis in some women. Remember, unwanted pregnancy is a health risk to the mother, and the child and can be a financial burden on the community. If you are a woman on Depo-Provera, however, you probably should discuss the risk of bone loss with your doctor.

There is some controversy about the timing of the warning about bone loss and Depo-Provera. A women’s health group in Winnipeg called the Canadian Women’s Health Network and another called the Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera (both of which have the same spokesperson Madeline Boscoe out of the Women’s Health Clinic at the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg) sent a letter to Health Canada in before Depo-Provera was approved in April 1997. Madeline Boscoe and others did not want Depo-Provera to be approved for birth control. They pointed to a 1991 study in New Zealand that was published in the British Medical Journal that said Depo-Provera increased risk of bone loss. Ms. Boscoe believes if Health Canada took their concerns seriously Depo-Provera would never have been given to Canadian women.

If you would like more information on the Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera:
Contact Madeline Boscoe, Executive Director, Canadian Women’s Health Network and co-founder Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera. Cell 204-295-2946
The Canadain Coalition on Depo-Provera c/o Women’s Health Clinic, 3rd Floor, 419 Graham Ave, Winnipeg, MB, R3C O3M

As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.