This ongoing controversy recently resulted in the decision of the French authorities to withdraw the COC containing ethinylestradiol (EE) and cyproterone acetate (CPA) ie Diane 35 from the market. Just published online in the JFPRHC is a joint statement from 26 international experts in contraception, whose conclusion is: ‘Both epidemiological data and clinical trials must be taken into account when best practice is defined. Regulatory restrictions of previously registered methods should only be made after careful assessment of all the available evidence.’

Readers’ attention is also drawn to two similar Position Statements recently issued by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, the first on hormonal contraception and risk of VTE, the second specifically relating to Diane 35.

http://www.sogc.com/media/documents/medHormonalContraceptionVTE130219.pdf.

http://www.sogc.com/media/documents/medDiane35VTE130219.pdf.