Content about Human reproduction

SAN DIEGO — Women who take low-dose oral contraceptives may be at increased risk of chronic pelvic-pain symptoms and pain during sexual climax, according to a new study.

The study, scheduled for presentation to reporters at the American Urological Association's annual scientific meeting in San Diego on Tuesday, was conducted by researchers at New York University and the Waitemata District Health Board in Auckland, New Zealand, compared CPPS in young women who used oral contraceptives with the condition in those who didn't.

TREVOSE, Pa. — E.p.t, creator of the original home pregnancy test, has partnered with the American Fertility Association to support the vast community of those who are actively trying to conceive, or TTC, during National Infertility Awareness Month this April.

NEW YORK — A patch for treating menopause that the manufacturer calls the smallest is now available.

Noven Pharmaceuticals announced the availability of Minivelle (estradiol) transdermal system in pharmacies. The patch, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in October 2012, is designed for treating hot flashes and night sweats in women with menopause.

The patch has a surface area nearly the same as a dime at its lowest strength of 0.0375 mg-per-day and is 34% smaller than Noven's Vivelle-Dot patch, the company said.

NEW YORK — The National Advertising Division on Thursday recommended that Church & Dwight discontinue its claim that the company’s First Response digital ovulation test is the “first and only test to predict ovulation based on your unique LH hormone level.”

The claim, which appeared on product packaging and on the company’s website, was challenged by SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics, the maker of the Clearblue DOT, a competing digital ovulation test product.

WAYNE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug that the manufacturer called the first oral contraceptive that also treats heavy menstrual bleeding.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals announced Wednesday the approval of Natazia (estradiol valerate and estradiol valerate and dienogest) tablets for heavy menstrual bleeding not caused by any conditions of the uterus. The drug was originally approved as an oral contraceptive in May 2010.

DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark on Wednesday recalled a limited number of a Kotex product distributed to specific stores in the United States.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Many American consumers are in favor of oral contraceptive coverage by both private and government-subsidized health insurance plans, according to a Thomson Reuters-National Press Radio Health Poll released Friday.

"Our survey findings provide a benchmark for public sentiment on issues that are continually dividing lawmakers, businesspeople and healthcare professionals," said Raymond Fabius, chief medical officer at the healthcare business of Thomson Reuters.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Church & Dwight on Tuesday announced the launch of its First Response digital ovulation test, a new at-home ovulation test that can detect a woman's personal luteinizing hormone, or LH, surge — the hormonal indication of ovulation — based on her own individual hormone levels.

NEW YORK — The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus last week recommended that SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics, manufacturer of the Clearblue Easy Digital home pregnancy test, modify its advertising to clarify to consumers that the test only delivers completely “certain” results on or after the day of a consumer’s expected menstrual period.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first and only low-dose oral contraceptive to combine 0.8-mg norethindrone and 0.025-mg ethinyl estradiol in a chewable form, with four 75-mg ferrous fumarate (iron) placebo tablets, Watson Pharmaceuticals has announced.

Watson's new oral contraceptive is positioned as a novel alternative to currently available birth control pills, and the dosing combination and 24-day active hormone regimen is intended to provide users with a low level of breakthrough bleeding and short, light, predictable periods.