Fertility Preservation in Women With Breast Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 18, 2013

Given the lack of long-term data, we are often left with more questions than answers about determining the appropriate management of these patients. Caring for women with estrogen receptor–positive tumors and BRCA mutations can add additional complexity. Women with hormone receptor–positive tumors face years of estrogen deprivation and/or endocrine therapy that is contraindicated during pregnancy. BRCA mutation carriers may also consider risk-reducing surgeries to decrease the risk of second breast cancers or to prevent ovarian cancers, thus further limiting fertility potential.

OTC Morning-After Pill Sales Coming, But Not Yet

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 13, 2013

Don't look for the morning-after pill to move next to the condoms on drugstore shelves right away - but after a decade-plus fight, it appears it really will happen. Backed into a corner by a series of court rulings, the Obama administration has agreed to let the Plan B One-Step brand of emergency contraception sell over the counter to anyone of any age.

Hormonal Treatment for Endometrial Cancer Does Not Directly Target the Malignant Cells

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 12, 2013

Progesterone, a female hormone that can be used as a therapy for endometrial cancer, eliminates tumor cells indirectly by binding to its receptor in stromal or connective tissue cells residing in the tumor microenvironment, according to a study from the G.O. Discovery Lab team and collaborators at UCLA.

Moving Forward In Stem Cell Research By Rewinding Development

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 10, 2013

Scientists at the Danish Stem Cell Center, DanStem, at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that they can make embryonic stem cells regress to a stage of development where they are able to make placenta cells as well as the other fetal cells. This significant discovery, published in the journal Cell Reports today, has the potential to shed new light on placenta related disorders that can lead to problematic pregnancies and miscarriages.

Court Rules Minors Can Buy Morning After Pill Without Prescription

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 06, 2013

Emergency contraception known as the "morning-after pill" can be sold over-the-counter to minors, a federal appeals court in New York decided on Wednesday.

Infertility Due to Old Eggs? An Anti-Aging Pioneer Ponders Solutions

Headlines in Reproductive Medicine June 06, 2013

One of the many ways in which humans' evolved characteristics clash with a fast-changing post-industrial society can be seen in the female egg.

Plan B One-Step to Be Available Over the Counter to Women Over Age 15

ASRM Bulletins May 07, 2013

Late Tuesday, FDA approved the application of Teva Women’s Health to allow women 15 and older buy the company’s Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive pill without prescription.

ASRM Applauds Court Decision Striking Down Age Restriction for Emergency Contraception

Press Releases April 05, 2013

"We are pleased with Judge Korman's decision ordering FDA to lift its restrictions on access to emergency contraceptives.  Restricting over-the-counter access by age has historically been a political decision. We agree with the court that these decisions need to be based on science, not politics.  In the field of reproductive medicine,  politicians too often seek to substitute their judgment for that of physicians and their patients or the scientific evidence. This results in bad medicine and bad policy. Today's decision tells the Federal Government that science should guide policy, and we applaud that stance."

Global Consensus Statement on Menopausal Hormone Therapy

Press Releases March 20, 2013

An international group of organizations working in women’s health and menopause, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), met in Paris in November 2012 and undertook a review of clinical guidelines on menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and the newest research on its safety and disease prevention.   In a statement to be published March 15 in the journals, Climacteric and Maturitas, the participants conclude that MHT is the most effective treatment for the symptoms of menopause, but that benefits are more likely to outweigh risks for symptomatic women before the age of 60 or within 10 years after menopause.

Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy Announces Voluntary Recall

ASRM Bulletins February 28, 2013

Village Fertility Pharmacy is conducting a voluntary recall of compounded medications shipped over the past three months. The recall resulted after particulate was discovered in a small percentage of two lots of Progesterone. Immediately upon learning of the situation, Village contacted the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy.