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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." Institute of Medicine. 1998. Contraceptive Research, Introduction, and Use: Lessons From Norplant. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5946.
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1
Introduction

In late 1996, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on Contraceptive Research and Development completed a major study of the state of contraceptive science, the need for new contraceptives, and factors helping or hindering response to that need.1 As part of its work, the committee reviewed case histories of experience with the development and introduction of new contraceptives, including a brief review of the contraceptive implant, Norplant®. The committee believed that the Norplant experience echoed critical elements in the history of several other contraceptives and that a detailed analysis of that experience would be particularly instructive. As the first real contraceptive innovation in over two decades and as a long-acting method requiring clinical intervention for application and removal, the method raised an especially wide range of issues that could offer valuable lessons about the barriers and problems to be addressed if other new technologies are to enter the contraceptive marketplace.

Thus, in April 1997, a subcommittee of that original study committee convened a workshop, Implant Contraceptives: An Illuminating Case Study in Current Dilemmas and Possibilities.2 Its objectives were to: (1) review newly available data on Norplant's efficacy, safety, and use; (2) extract lessons from presentations on diverse aspects of the method's development, introduction, use, and market experience; and, (3) explore approaches to developing and introducing new contraceptives based on learning from that experience.

The workshop consisted of 17 formal presentations; two organized dialogues, one on consumer perspectives, the other on new strategies for developing and introducing new contraceptive technologies; and extensive discussion among subcommittee members, presenters, and invited participants on the information presented and its implications. The subcommittee met in executive session after adjournment to analyze the workshop proceedings and develop a list of lessons and points for further consideration or action.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." Institute of Medicine. 1998. Contraceptive Research, Introduction, and Use: Lessons From Norplant. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5946.
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The report is organized in the following manner: The first section reviews the major points in the workshop presentations and dialogues, concluding with a summation of the principal lessons they provided and the areas of action most urgently suggested for the future. It is followed by three appendixes and detailed endnotes. Appendix A contains abstracts of the 15 formal presentations in a common format. Appendix B presents background material on the technology and a chronology of its development and market experience. Appendix C provides the workshop agenda and list of participants. The endnotes consist of references made by presenters and other information deemed necessary to support and clarify the text.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." Institute of Medicine. 1998. Contraceptive Research, Introduction, and Use: Lessons From Norplant. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5946.
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Page 1
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." Institute of Medicine. 1998. Contraceptive Research, Introduction, and Use: Lessons From Norplant. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5946.
×
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As the first real contraceptive innovation in over 20 years, and as a long-acting method requiring clinical intervention for application and removal, the implantable contraceptive Norplant has raised a wide range of issues that could offer valuable lessons about the problems to be addressed if other new contraceptive technologies are to enter the marketplace. In April 1997 an Institute of Medicine workshop on implant contraceptives reviewed newly available data on Norplant's efficacy, safety, and use; identified lessons to be learned about the method's development, introduction, use, and market experience; and explored approaches to developing and introducing new contraceptives based on those lessons. This resulting book contains an examination of Norplant's efficacy and safety, its user populations, training for insertion and removal, consumer perspectives (quality of care, informed decisionmaking, and consumer involvement), and new approaches to contraceptive development and introduction. An appendix contains summaries of 17 workshop presentations.

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