[Sale of oral contraceptives, births and abortions prior to and after the "Marvelon issue"].

This study focuses on the situation in Norway after the UK Committee on Safety of Medicines issued an alert on an increased risk of venous thromboembolism with third-generation OCs on 18 October 1995. The Norwegian Medicine Control. Agency immediately issued a press release warning Norwegian women about the health risk associated with third-generation OCs (in Norway, the drug Marvelon only). In this study the effects of the Norwegian warning are evaluated by the use of data on the sale of OCs, number of induced abortions, and births by quarter for the 1992 to 1998 period. From third quarter 1995 to first quarter 1996, sales of Marvelon to pharmacies dropped by 75%, while total sales of OCs were reduced by 5%. From late October 1995 thorough January 1996, approximately 50,000 women stopped taking Marvelon. A maximum increase of 200 induced abortions could be attributed to the negative news on OCs in October and November 1995. There was no subsequent change in the birth pattern. These data confirm that Norwegian women who shifted to another type or stopped taking OCs during the 1995 media crisis avoided unplanned pregnancies.