Pill packs and the patient
Potts, D.M.
Ippf Medical Bulletin 5(6): 4
1971
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-0357 PMID: 12256322 Document Number: 33785
Pharmacological differences exist between some types of oral contraceptives, and a specific pill may prove most satisfactory for an individual woman. However, all over the world doctors find that a single type of pill can fulfill the needs of a very large number of users. Today a great many brands of pill are made; many contain similar weights of hormones, and sometimes exactly similar tablets are distributed by different manufacturers under different trade names, in different packages, containing tablets that differ in size, shape and colour. Experience shows that changing the package - with or without minor variations in pharmacological activity - can disturb users. When oral contraceptives are purchased on behalf of the If, a great effort is made to obtain the most advantageous contracts possible. Contracts usually run for one year and a new manufacturere may obtain the contract at the end of that time. Previously unfamiliar packs may then reach family planning clinics and these changes have caused, and are causing, some confusion. It is hoped that if the reason for the change is explained, and if the woman is reassured, there will be little trouble. Efforts are now being made to draw up contracts for a common pack which will carry the name and be the same shape and contain similar white tablets, and perhaps have an unusual but standard symbol, whichever manufacturer obtains a bulk order contract. The chemical formulation of the tablet and the manufacturer's name would be printed on the pack in small letters, mainly for the information of the doctor. It is hoped that such a system will begin to used in the course of 1972.