
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990                   TAG: 9005090210
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Short

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS SAFE, EXPERTS SAY

New birth control pills, containing one-fifth as much estrogen as the original pills, are safe for non-smoking women in their 40s and do not raise the risk for clots or cancer, researchers report.

Dr. Daniel R. Mishell, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and other doctors gave the update Monday on the latest safety studies of the pill and IUDs at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

It also was reported that the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve, perhaps this year, surgically implanted hormone capsules that provide birth control hormones for five years. This birth control method, with the contraceptives usually placed under the skin on one arm, already is used in more than 40 countries.

by CNB