PRESS RELEASE:
Significant Bone Loss Associated with Depo-
Provera
Use is Sadly No Surprise;
We Call For Action To Make Sure This Doesn't
Happen Again.


Winnipeg, November 19, 2004
This week, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer
issued letters in both Canada
and the
United States warning about a serious health
risk
to women who use their
long-acting,
injectable contraceptive drug, Depo-Provera.



  Pfizer announced that they will be warning
doctors and women and adolescents
who use   Depo-Provera that the drug may cause a
significant loss of bone
mineral density,
that the loss increases with duration, and that
the loss may not be
completely reversible.



    In other words, these women and girls face
an
increased risk of
developing osteoporosis
and the fractures associated with the
condition.
Pfizer also announced
that studies on the
  impact of bone loss during this key period in
young women are ongoing.

These warnings come as no surprise to the womens
health groups who, in the
early 1980s,
were already raising concerns about Depo-
Provera,
its risks to womens
health and autonomy,
  and the troubling circumstances under which
the
drug was being tested and
used.

  The history of Depo-Provera is approval in
Canada is yet another example
of the weaknesses
in Canada's drug approval system, a system that
is
supposed to protect the
health of
Canadians,including women.

   The approval and marketing of Depo-Provera in
Canada speaks to a lack of
women-sensitive
research, the absence of rigorous, transparent
drug review and post
marketing surveillance processes,
and the hazards of ignoring community voices.
We
are angry and feel
betrayed by this latest example
of women being used as guinea pigs without their
knowledge or
consent.  Just as with hormone
replacement therapy, it has been women's health
groups to first ring the
alarm bells about our own
health issues.

   Health Canada approved Depo-Provera for use
as
a contraceptive in April
1997 after several
previous applications by the manufacturer had
been
denied due to concerns
being raised by
independent researchers and community groups.


    Six years earlier, the Canadian Coalition on
Depo-Provera sent a letter
to Benoit Bouchard,
then National Minister of Health and Welfare,
pointing out the risks of
osteoporosis identified
in a study conducted in New Zealand in 1991 and
published in the British
Medical Journal
which noted a decrease in bone density in Depo
users, thereby increasing
their risk factor
for osteoporosis, a condition that is a
significant health risk for
Canadian women.

Yet Depo was widely promoted by health
professionals to young women and
Pfizer was
even allowed to advertise its product directly
to
consumers, something that
is illegal in Canada.

    We ask, why have we had to wait for thirteen
years for the drug company
and the government
  to acknowledge these risks?  How many women
and
adolescent girls have
been unnecessarily
exposed to an increased risk of osteoporosis as
a
result of using
Depo-Provera? And who will
take responsibility for any resulting fractures?
It is important that we
learn from this error.
Hormone replacement therapy, Vioxx, and
Depo-Provera are stories about
drugs that
all indicate  the need for a serious review of
Canadas drug approval and
monitoring systems.
  Action is required.


We call on:

1. Health Canada and the Standing Committee on
Health to hold hearings to
review the
history of the use, approval and post marketing
surveillance of Depo-Provera.

2. Pfizer Canada to establish an independently
managed compensation fund.
Calcium
supplements and vitamin D to build bone
strength,
extra calcium-rich food,
exercise programs
to increase bone mass, monitoring by health care
professionals and possible
health care all
  have costs. We call on Pfizer Canada to use
its
profits from the sale of
Depo-Provera to cover
  the costs that women and Canadas health care
system will have to assume.

3. Provincial and federal governments to seek
reimbursement from Pfizer for
the health costs of
caring for women who have been put at risk for
this drug.

  4. Provincial and federal governments to
immediately put in place
community based educational
programs for women who have been using
Depo-Provera.

5. Pfizer to establish an independent health
research program to support a
community based
research program for women's health.

Our past history clearly demonstrates that
womens
health groups can be far
more reliable and
informed source than either the drug companies
or
Health Canada. We ask how
we can prevent this
from happening again?


Contact:
Madeline Boscoe, Executive Director, Canadian
Women's Health Network and
co-founder
Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera. Cell
204-295-2946

--
Mona Dupre-Ollinik
Outreach Coordinator/Coordonatrice de liaison
(204)942-5500 ext. 13

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