The Doctor's Case Against the Pill (Paperback)

~ (Author) "According to the best available estimates, somewhere between twelve and fifteen million women around the world are taking oral contraceptives with their own consent, if..." (more)
Key Phrases: menstrual chaos, pill manufacturers, chlormadinone acetate, New York, United States, Planned Parenthood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This first appeared in 1969 and the update is based on recent research and interviews with health professionals. Seaman concludes that use of the Pill poses serious health risks today, from infertility and increased heart attacks to blood clots. This updates the picture on a possible crisis in health care: use of the Pill by women. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description

A reassessment of a thought-provoking work raises questions about the safety and reliability of birth control pills in the light of such modern technologies as hormone replacement therapy and Norplant implants. Reprint. Tour. IP.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Hunter House (CA); 25 Anv edition (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897931815
• ISBN-13: 978-0897931816
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,435,021 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historically important, and still relevant today, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

A mere thirty years ago, the Pill's dosage of estrogen was dangerously high, resulting in side effects such as strokes, depression, obesity, blood clots, and heart attacks. Yet gynecologists at the time brushed off women's concerns, telling them that they were nothing more than "psychological." Enter Barbara Seaman, whose 1969 book The Doctors' Case Against the Pill warned women about the health risks and held doctors and pharmaceutical companies to task for their sexism -- as well as for their greed and incompetence. Her book prompted the Senate to hold hearings investigating the safety of the Pill. As a result, the Pill today is much safer, and each packet comes with a warning about potential side effects and contraindications.

Well, that was thirty years ago... why buy the book today? First, because it is an important historical record of the way female patients have been mistreated. And second, because Seaman has updated it to include new information about the Pill's pitfalls over the years as well as an excellent chapter about Norplant, a contraceptive used widely around the globe even though it causes its own host of health problems. No wonder Gloria Steinem has called Seaman "the first prophet of the women's health movement."

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BookThat Started It All, August 10, 2001

By A Customer

In the late'60s and early '70s sexual liberation was in the air. Many -- perhaps even most -- well-heeled Americans welcomed the loosening up of sexual restrictions that had been so oppressive during the postwar era. The sexual double standard was waning, young people were being told that they had the right to sensual experimentation before and outside of marriage,and making it all possible were the new miracle contraceptives: the iud and the pill. Times had changed for the better, and it was a new epoch of progress,right?

Wrong.

Journalist Barbara Seaman had the courage and insight to peer behind the happy facade that characterized the first wave of American sexual liberation,at some troubling realities. She asked simple questions -- the kind that annoy everyone,because they're unanswerable. Why was so much research being done on female contraceptives that were potentially harmful,with none being done on male contraceptives? (The condom STILL remains the only male option.) Since sexual intercourse is generally more pleasurable for men than women,why didn't men introduce harsh chemicals and dangerous contraptions into their systems? If the pill was so safe,why was it making women feel so sick? Why were patients who reported their symptoms told that it was all in their heads? Why were the physicians and chemists behind all these products male?

_The Doctor's Case Against the Pill_ compresses many of Seaman's findings and inaugurated her career as a lifelong whistle blower and advocate of women's health. Like her later work, _Free and Female_,it is a pathfinding book that exposes the ideology behind the health industry and the self-interest of so many medical practitioners. It reminds us how easily retrograde assumptions are recycled into the most seemingly progressive and forward-looking social initiatives. Like most pioneering works,its results still brace and shock; the expanded edition incorporates Seaman's more recent research. This is a must-read for anyone interested in women's health and women's history.

As many people know, because of this book,there are now warning labels on packages of birth control pills. Thirty years ago,Barbara Seaman had the courage to play that most thankless role:the party-pooper. In the swinging '60s and '70s, her findings met with a cold reception. But because of her work,women today lead healthier and safer lives.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barbara Tells You What Your Doctor Probably Won't, March 24, 2004

By	A reader (USA) - See all my reviews

If you've read other books by Barbara Seaman (and you should take a look, if you haven't), you know that she is a crusader for the health of women. She will tell you the truth about what birth control and other hormones are doing to your health - and about the side effects of the pill that your doctor isn't likely to mention. Please, if you're going to take hormones, inform yourself as fully as possible about what you're really signing up to do. I came close to losing my life from side effects of the birth control pill and "natural" progesterone cream. Don't let it happen to you - Barbara Seaman is a great resource.