Prescription of high risk birth control pills

Unnecessary high risk of thrombosis due to birth control pills
Arzneimittelreport criticizes prescription practice for birth control pills

16/06/2011

At the presentation of the Pharmaceutical Report 2011 of the Barmer GEK, the health economist Professor Dr. Gerd Glaeske from the Center for Social Policy of the University of Bremen pointed out numerous abuses in the prescription of medicines. In addition to the over-medication of dementia patients, the expert criticized especially the prescribing practice in the field of birth control pills. According to the Bremen health economists, young healthy women are often unnecessarily exposed to a significantly higher risk of thrombosis.

The Pharmaceuticals Report 2011 comes to the conclusion that when prescribing birth control pills, products are often used that cause a twice as high risk of thrombosis as other preparations. Professor Dr. Gerd Glaeske suspects that this is essentially due to the economic interests of the pharmaceutical companies. As the patents older contraceptive pill of the second generation, which entail a significantly lower risk of thrombosis, expire or have expired, instead, the riskier birth control pills of the third and fourth generation are advertised, so the charge of the expert. As in the case of over-medication of dementia patients, economic considerations are placed on the health needs of patients, criticized the Bremen health economist at the presentation of the Pharmaceutical Report 2011 of the Barmer GEK on Wednesday in Berlin.

Birth control pills generally cause an increased risk of thrombosis
Women who use contraceptive pills generally have an increased risk of thrombosis, but only 15 to 20 out of every 100,000 women suffer from thrombosis when taken for over a year in the older preparations of the second generation pills, whereas the more modern birth control pills The third and fourth generation of 30 to 40 dangerous cases of thrombosis are reported, Glaeske explained. The fact that the newer preparations still make up about half of the prescriptions, according to the experts, due to the fact that the patents of the older pills have expired and therefore the profit margin has decreased significantly. Instead, the pharmaceutical companies are trying to bring their newer lucrative products to the woman by means of comprehensive advertising measures. These advertising measures are having an effect on both the patients and the doctors, according to the common reproach of the Barmer GEK and the Bremen health economists.

Medical associations and pharmaceutical companies reject allegations
The medical associations and pharmaceutical companies immediately resisted the implicit allegations of the Pharmaceuticals Report 2011 and rejected the criticism as unjustified. The doctors denied a possible link between the prescribing practice and marketing efforts of the pharmaceutical companies. „To make a lumpy picture that doctors prescribe irresponsibly is perfidious“, said Roland Stahl, spokesman for the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians „Hamburger Abendblatt“. A favoring of the more lucrative but also riskier modern contraceptive pill denied the medical associations vehemently. In general, the competent doctors would base their prescriptions on the current medical guidelines, so that the margin was narrowly set by itself. The pharmaceutical companies, on the other hand, pointed out that all birth control pills are associated with a risk of thrombosis, which is subject to insignificant differences. „All birth control pills have the characteristic that they slightly increase the risk of thrombosis (...) some more, some less“, said the spokesman of the Association of research-based pharmaceutical manufacturers, Rolf Hömke in conversation with the „Hamburger Abendblatt“.

Women should be well informed before using birth control pills
From a business point of view, the fact that pharmaceutical companies are trying to market their newer, more lucrative birth control pills is perfectly understandable, but in the interests of the patients, a comprehensive explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of the various preparations should be provided here. Glaeske at the presentation of the drug report. In the first place, the treating physicians are required to enable the patients to form their own judgment. So far, however, the profitable birth control pills of the third and fourth generation by the pharmaceutical companies massively advertised, while their drawbacks are rarely discussed, so the criticism of the Bremen health economists and author of the Pharmaceutical Report 2011. According to Glaeske, it is still today „The fact that this market is not in favor of women.“ The expert advises therefore women who have the desire to contraceptive pill to get informed by their doctor intensively about possible risks of the various preparations and not to ignore the different risk of thrombosis. (Fp)

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Image: Benjamin Klack