Birth control is something that is constantly in the market, with many companies and organisations looking for new methods of preventing pregnancies. It is one of the most lucrative products so it is easy to understand that many people want in with their ideas and creations. However, to do this, they must be FDA approved, and the process is not easy. It is something that takes time, money and a lot of testing to convince the US FDA to run the birth control on the market.
The FDA have officially approved a revolutionary birth control app that is the first of its kind. This app is able to track fertility and use the data it collects to warn its users when they are most likely to avoid pregnancy. It is essentially, the very opposite of an ovulation app. The app is marketed to women over the age of 18 and has now had approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Whilst many app designers have proposed the idea in recent years, this is the first to ever become official and have the potential to become a mainstream form of birth control. It will now officially be marketed as a contraceptive and recommended for mass consumption. Would you trust an app to be your primary form of birth control?
The app is called Natural Cycles and is now a large part of the agency’s brand new Digital Health Innovation Action Plan. The FDA’s Digital Health Innovation Action Plan is primarily designed to create a fast track approval process for low-to-moderate risk devices. So far, so good. However, the Natural Cycles app has numerous critics, so we will see how long this good spell lasts.
Dr. Terri Cornelison, an assistant director for the renowned health of women sector of the FDA had the following to say about the app “This new app can provide an effective method of contraception if it’s used carefully and correctly.”, she continues, “But women should know that no form of contraception works perfectly, so an unplanned pregnancy could still result from correct usage of this device.”.
This hasn’t been the only drastic movement for the FDA in recent times. They have also this week issued the approval of a specially designed vaginal ring created by the Population Council. This is the very first product created in a brand new line of contraceptives. The vaginal ring is essentially a soft, reusable product that uses a new progestin, known as segesterone acetate, and the commonly known ethinyl estradiol, a type of estrogen. This product can then be left in place for a maximum of 21 days and then must be taken out for 7 more.
These new products will soon be released to mainstream market and only then will we know whether or not they will cut it as a popular brand of contraceptive or not. These ideas are intelligent and brand new, it will be interesting to see them flourish.
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