Jonathan Douxfils: In Contraception for Healthy Women, Safety Must Remain the Leading Criterion
Jonathan Douxfils, Director of the Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Unit at University of Namur, Board Member of Belgian Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, shared on LinkedIn:
”’We are in fact proposing cheaper EE-based pills, including EE/LNG, with a higher VTE risk, the perspective matters!’
From Rome to Budapest
After a great ISGE – International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology meeting in Rome, I travelled on Friday to Budapest to speak on Saturday at a symposium organized by Gedeon Richter, alongside Prof. Johannes Ott, Prof. Lorenz Küssel, and PD Dr. Monika Wolfler.
It was a real pleasure to exchange on such an important topic with colleagues deeply committed to women’s health
One message is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: in contraception for healthy women, safety must remain the leading criterion.
For years, EE-based pills have often been perceived as the ‘reference’, while Natural Estrogens were presented as newer options with a safer profile, but at a slightly higher cost.
But what if the paradigm is actually the opposite?
If natural estrogens are considered the true reference — as proposed by the ESCONEC group — then the perception changes completely.
We are no longer proposing a somewhat more expensive pill with improved safety.
We are in fact proposing cheaper EE-based pills, including EE/LNG, with a higher VTE risk.
And when the difference may represent less than €0.40 per day, the discussion looks very different for both prescribers and patients.
In an area involving healthy women, accepting avoidable thrombotic risk should never be trivial — especially when efficacy, bleeding profile, tolerability, well-being, and quality of life are also excellent with these newer options.
This is why the way we frame the benefit–risk balance really matters.
It is probably time to rethink what should truly be considered the standard in contraceptive prescribing.
Many thanks to the audience for the warm welcome and stimulating discussions, and to the other speakers for this excellent symposium
Thank you also Gedeon Richter Austria – Christina Thaller, Irene Karas and Petra Hebar for the organization of this symposium!”
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