Norplant not to be offered at Ritenour

The University's Ritenour Health Center will not offer Norplant, a new birth control device, in the near future, a University health official said.

"I don't rule it out in the future, but I don't see us offering it in the next six months," said Margaret Spear, the physician in charge of the Women's Health Department at the University's Ritenour Health Center.

Norplant's cost may discourage use among Ritenour's clients, Spear said. The device has a one-time fee ranging from $300 to $500, and unlike other forms of birth control, Norplant must be surgically implanted.

Six capsules are inserted into a woman's upper arm to suppress her normal ovulation pattern. Norplant is effective for five years and can be removed if a woman decides to discontinue use.

But until physicians learn how to insert, remove and monitor Norplant, it will not be accessible to women, said Richard C. Pees, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics/gynecology at the University's Hershey Medical Center.

Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Norplant's developer, requires physicians to learn the surgical procedures associated with the device before they may administer it, Pees said.

University hospitals throughout the country, including the medical center, have been chosen as initial training sites. Doctors will come to these hospitals to learn the surgical procedures of administering Norplant.

Norplant has been proven to be 98 to 99 percent effective, which is the same as the birth control pill, Pees said. While the effectiveness of the pill relies on the woman taking it at a specific time each day, the use of Norplant entails only the insertion of the device once every five years.

"With the Norplant it's there," Pees said. "You don't have to do anything."

Correction: When this article was originally published in the print version it misstated how Norplant, a birth-control device, works. The device releases progestin, which prevents sperm penetration and implantation in the woman's uterus.

Norplant contains progestin, which prevents sperm penetration and implantation within the uterus, Spear said. Because of its progestin content, Norplant causes irregular vaginal bleeding, or spotting. As a result of this side effect, Speer said, women may regard Norplant as unacceptable.

"The reality of spotting on a regular basis for months is a problem for many women," she added.

Information will be provided at the Women's Health Center for women interested in the device, Spear said. If Norplant is in demand, Ritenour physicians will be trained for the surgery, she said.