Lethal Dose

Episode 10: The Birth Control Pill


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The history of the first hormonal birth control pill is a sordid tale of ethical violations committed against Puerto Rican women in the late 1950's by Harvard researchers, Proctor & Gamble, and funded by the founder of Planned Parenthood.

1. A Timeline of Contraception. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-timeline/ (accessed 03 May 2021).

2. Burnette, B. R. Comstock Act of 1873 (1873). https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1038/comstock-act-of-1873 (accessed 03 May 2021).

3. Brooks, C. F., The early history of the anti-contraceptive laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut. American Quarterly 1966, 18 (1), 3-23.

4. Eveleth, R. Lysol's Vintage Ads Subtly Pushed Women to Use Its Disinfectant as Birth Control Smithsonian Magazine [Online], 2013. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lysols-vintage-ads-subtly-pushed-women-to-use-its-disinfectant-as-birth-control-218734/ (accessed 03 May 2021).

5. Latson, J. What Margaret Sanger Really Said About Eugenics and Race Time [Online], 2016. https://time.com/4081760/margaret-sanger-history-eugenics/ (accessed 03 May 2021).

6. Kelly, A. Fact Check: Was Planned Parenthood Started to 'Control' the Black Population? NPR [Online], 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/08/14/432080520/fact-check-was-planned-parenthood-started-to-control-the-black-population (accessed 03 May 2021).

7. Cooper, D. B.; Mahdy, H., Oral Contraceptive Pills. StatPearls Publishing: Treasure Island, FL, 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430882/ (accessed 04 May 2021).

8. The Puerto Rico Pill Trials. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-puerto-rico-pill-trials/ (accessed 03 May 2021).

9. Roberts, W. C., Facts and Ideas from Anywhere. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings 2017, 28 (3), 421-432.

10. Vargas, T. Guinea pigs or pioneers? How Puerto Rican women were used to test the birth control pill Washington Post [Online], 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/09/guinea-pigs-or-pioneers-how-puerto-rican-women-were-used-to-test-the-birth-control-pill/ (accessed 03 May 2021).

11. Sitruk-Ware, R., Non-clinical studies of progesterone. Climacteric 2018, 21 (4), 315-320.

12. Ortho Micronor. https://www.rxlist.com/ortho-micronor-drug.htm#indications (accessed 04 May 2021).

13. Aygestin. https://www.rxlist.com/aygestin-drug.htm (accessed 04 May 2021).

14. Blakemore, E. The First Birth Control Pill Used Puerto Rican Women as Guinea Pigs History [Online], 2019. https://www.history.com/news/birth-control-pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid.

15. Svoboda, E., Innovative forms of contraception could offer more choice for controlling fertility. Nature 2020, 588, S166-S167.

16. Rosendaal, F. R.; Van Hylckama Vlieg, A.; Tanis, B. C.; Helmerhorst, F. M., Estrogens, progestogens and thrombosis. J Thrombosis Haemostasis 2003, 1, 1371-1380.

17. Ethynyl Estradiol; Cayman Chemical: caymanchem.com, 2020.

18. Quintanilla, R. Puerto Ricans recall being guinea pigs for 'magic pill' Chicago Tribune [Online], 2004. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-04-11-0404110509-story.html (accessed 03 May 2021).

19. Liao, P. V.; Dollin, J., Half a century of the oral contraceptive pill. Can Fam Physician 2012, 58, e757-760.

20. Estradiol. https://www.rxlist.com/consumer_estradiol/drugs-condition.htm (accessed 04 May 2021).

21. Miller, K. Why It's Tough to Directly Compare the J&J Vaccine Blood Clots to Those Linked to Birth Control Health [Online], 2021. https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/jj-vaccine-blood-clots-birth-control (accessed 04 May 2021).

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Lethal DoseBy Kayla Woods and Venus de Neko

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