Norplant System Levonorgestral Implants, Resource Center educational materials
date: label: date made
content: early 1990s
label: copyright date
content: 1990
name: label: maker
content: Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
notes: label: Description
content: This Norplant System Resource Center kit contains one (1) white folder holding brochures and product information; two (2) video tapes - "Insertion/ Removal Techniques" and "Counseling Guidelines;" and one (1) metal trocar (1998.0157.02.02) and one (1) arm model, "Subdermal Implant Training Model," (1998.0157.02.01). The model arm and trocar were used to train medical professionals in the implantation technique. In the Norplant system of contraception, six (6) capsules of levongesterol are inserted under the skin of the upper arm. The capsules may remain in place for up to 5 years. Norplant was approved by the FDA in 1990. Wyeth-Ayerst, distributor of the Norplant system, worked with the Population Council to develop the training materials.
label: Description
content: Researchers at the Population Council, a non-profit focused on global population concerns, began developing Norplant in the mid-1960s for use in international population control programs. After FDA approval in 1990, Norplant was licensed to Wyeth-Ayerst for distribution in the United States. Norplant consisted of six silicone rods implanted in a woman’s arm that released contraceptive hormones for up to five years, although they could be removed at any time. Norplant was immediately controversial due to concerns that law- and policy-makers targeted poor, teenage, and/or African American women as intended users due to the duration of contraception it provided, and complaints about its cost ($365 for Norplant itself, plus insertion) and negative side effects. The most serious health complaints involved infection and scarring at the insertion site and problems with removal. With declining sales and litigation costs of nearly 200 lawsuits, Wyeth suspended distribution in 2000, and removed Norplant from the market in 2002.
label: Description
content: Reference: Watkins, Elizabeth Siegel. "From Breakthrough to Bust: The Brief Life of Norplant, the Contraceptive Implant." Journal of Women's History, vol. 22 no. 3, 2010, p. 88-111.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Women's Health
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0157.02
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0157.02
label: accession number
content: 1998.0157
objectType: label: Object Name
content: educational materials, contraceptive
label: Object Name
content: educational materials, contraceptive
label: Other Terms
content: educational materials, contraceptive; Teaching Materials
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber, plastic, foam, paint (arm material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, plastic (syringe material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 5/8 in x 11 3/4 in x 3 3/8 in; 29.5275 cm x 29.845 cm x 8.5725 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: manual closed: 9 in x 9 1/16 in; 22.86 cm x 23.01875 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: artificial forearm: 2 5/8 in x 6 in x 3 1/2 in; 6.6675 cm x 15.24 cm x 8.89 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: syringe: 3/8 in x 4 1/4 in x 3/8 in; .9525 cm x 10.795 cm x .9525 cm