Today more two out of eight couples rely on modern methods of birth control to maintain the health and well-being of their families. Although great advances in contraceptive technology have been made in the last 50 years, there is still a need for a much wider range of options. Contraceptive Research Today Private industry has been the driving force behind contraceptive research and development for most of this century. More than 100 experimental contraceptive methods are currently being studied around the world. Developing new contraceptive products, however, requires enormous investments of time and money.
Contraceptive development is also related to the growing risk of product liability litigation.
The U.S. federal government has also played an important role in contraceptive research during the last 30 years. However, cutbacks in government funding are now discouraging researchers from entering the field of contraceptive research. Because of the current slowdown in contraceptive research, Americans have seen the number of available contraceptive options fall behind those that are available in other countries. By the time Norplant was approved by the FDA in 1990, it had already been in use in 22 countries for nearly a decade. Depo-Provera , which wasn't approved for use in the U.S. until 1992, had already been used by more than 30 million women worldwide since 1969.