HEALTH : THIRD-GENERATION PILL: EXEC TURNS DEAF EAR TO CALLS.

• Position: Birth control pills

The European Commission does not plan to limit the use of third and fourth-generation birth control pills, as urged by French Health Minister Marisol Touraine as well as a number of members of the European Parliament. "Doctors are familiar with the risks presented by this type of pill, which are indicated on the package leaflet. The latest evaluation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in 2011, concluded that there is no new evidence to warrant any change in their authorisations," said the spokesman for Commissioner Tonio Borg (health and consumer policy), on 11 January.

The debate was retriggered in France in mid-December 2012 when a young woman lodged a complaint against the German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer, claiming that use of the third-generation...