Word: pill
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Another scare about a new birthcontrol pill set U.S. doctors' telephones jangling last week as women called to ask whether their particular pills were safe. The answer was the same as it has been since the pills first went on the market in 1960: "Yes, as far as anyone knows...
...facts in the current case were simple and clear. Merck Sharp & Dohme was testing a pill containing two synthetic hormones. One is an estrogen, familiar and long in use; the second is a new progestin, closely related to those in pills already available but differing in detailed chemical structure. Although 340 women have taken the still-experimental pill for several months with no apparent ill effects, the manufacturer tried giving exceptionally large doses-20 to 40 times the human dose-to dogs. Two of the dogs in the experiment developed cancer...
Clearly, the board will have to surrender some of its power. This may be a bitter pill to swallow, especially in public. But for the sake of St. John's more than 13000 students, the school's reputation and the reputation of Catholic education in general, it will have to be does...
...pill's hormones are derived mostly from a chemical called diosgenin, which until 1945 was obtainable only in small quantities from tropical plants. Then Dr. George Rosenkranz, at that time a Syntex research chemist, found that the Mexican yam, or barbasco root, yielded much larger amounts of diosgenin. In 1951 Syntex's Dr. Carl Djerassi first synthesized from it female sex hormones that women could swallow. Later it was discovered that the hormones were effective as an oral contraceptive. Syntex then began selling the compound to other drug firms, later introduced its own pill. Both Syntex and Searle...
Benefiting from Research. Because Syntex's stock has been so volatile, some Wall Streeters have been skeptical of the firm's future once the pill boom lags. But only about 20% of the U.S. women who could use the pills now do so, and most of the overseas market has barely been tapped. Moreover, Syntex's research in hormones and nucleic acids is right where major new-drug discoveries are most likely to come. Even now, Syntex is benefiting from its research. Its earnings in the latest quarter jumped 236% (to $5.9 million) and sales climbed...