Depo Provera - What did they know and when did they know it?
September 12, 2005 11:39

It seems like Depo Provera is becoming one of those classic what did they know and when did they know it stories. And the more I dig, the more disheartened I am to find that the "new" label is revealing things that are not so "new."

Let's look at the history of the drug to see what might really be going on.

April 16, 2003
Pfizer Inc and Pharmacia Corporation began operating as a unified company on April 16, 2003, forging one of the world's fastest-growing and most valuable companies. With a research and development budget of $7.1 billion in 2003, the new Pfizer is now the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical company.

March 23, 2000
Pharmacia Corporation's corporate and pharmaceutical business headquarters will be in Peapack, N.J. The agricultural business headquarters will be in St. Louis and will retain the Monsanto name. (In April 2000, Pharmacia & Upjohn completed a merger with Monsanto and Searle creating Pharmacia, a dynamic new competitor in the pharmaceutical industry.)

On December 19, 1999, Monsanto Company and Pharmacia & Upjohn announced a definitive agreement to merge. The new company, to be called Pharmacia Corporation, will be a dynamic and powerful new competitor in the global pharmaceutical industry. The merger is expected to close the second quarter of 2000.

In 1998, Pharmacia & Upjohn relocated its global headquarters from the United Kingdom to the United States.

In 1995
Pharmacia & Upjohn: have Corporate headquarters:
Somerset County, NJ

The Upjohn Company [Depo Provera's maker]
Kalamazoo, MI


+


Pharmacia AB
Stockholm (Pharmacia)

Pre-1995
The Upjohn Company
1992 - FDA advisory panel recommends approval for Depo-Provera.
PIP: The fertility and maternal health drugs advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration recently voted to recommended approval of the use of Depo-Provera, manufactured by Upjohn Co. in Kalamazoo, MI. Depo-Provera is a hormonal contraceptive which contains depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate to be injected intramuscular every 3 months. Currently, it is approved by the FDA only for treatment of endometrial or renal cancer. Experts agree that Depo-Provera is an excellent drug and FDA approval is expected by the end of the year. The FDA denied Upjohn's application for approval of Depo-Provera for contraception in 1978, but since then studies have refuted the link between cancer and Depo-Provera. The committee also recommended post marketing studies to assess the problem. The FDA is also reviewing new data from New Zealand showing a possible increased risk of osteoporosis associated with longterm use of the drug. The FDA advisory committee recommended an informed consent document for women who would use Depo-Provera to advise about the risk of bone loss. The FDA is also reviewing new data from Thailand showing a link between low birth weight babies and Depo-Provera uses during pregnancy that could necessity a warning label to rule out pregnancy before administering Depo-Provera.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/4/1680_50968.htmThere is another strike against Depo-Provera. A July 1991 study published in the British Medical Journal found that bone density significantly decreased in thirty women who had been using Depo-Provera for at least five years. If you are already at risk for osteoporosis due to your family history or due to the fact that you smoke or are underweight, or if you are of European or Asian origin, you should look for another contraceptive. In response, the FDA has asked Upjohn to continue research on the connection between Depo-Provera and osteoporosis. An Emory University study showed that Depo-Provera can cause menopausal symptoms in young women because it greatly decreases estrogen levels. This could be why osteoporosis is a risk; estrogen loss leads to bone thinning.

So when did they know this was dangerous? Long before November 2004.