Norplant System Kit, Levonorgestrel Implants
date: label: date made
content: mid-1990s
label: product expiration date
content: 1999-02
name: label: distributor
content: Wyeth Laboratories Inc.
label: Maker
content: Wyeth Laboratories Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: All the materials needed for the insertion of one Norplant contraceptive system are packaged in a white plastic compartmentalized tray which fits inside a white and green cardboard sleeve. The complete kit includes: one (1) set of six Norplant system capsules, Wyeth Laboratories (exp date: 2/99; Lot 3980071); one (1) package “Norplant System” trocar; one (1) package “Bard-Parker” scalpel; one (1) syringe; two (2) single use syringe needles; one (1) package “Posi-Grip Sterile Thumb Forceps”; one (1) package “Kendall Curi-Strip” wound closures; three (3) packages of “Kendall Curity” gauze sponges; one (1) package “Kendall Conform” stretch bandage; one (1) package of two “Boundary” surgical drapes; one (1) package “Boundary Fenestrated” surgical drape; one (1) patient information leaflet; one (1) patient information folder; one (1) prescribing information leaflet.
label: Description
content: SEE: 1998.0157.02 for the Norplant System Resource Kit, including the Insertion/Removal Manual, and 1998.0157.03 for the Patient Counseling Kit
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 distributed
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: Subject
content: Women's Health
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0157.01
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0157.01
label: accession number
content: 1998.0157
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Contraceptive System Kit
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive system kit
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive system kit
label: Other Terms
content: Contraceptive System Kit; Contraceptive Devices
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: dimethylsiloxane/methylvinyslioxane copolymer (drug inactive ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: levonorgestrel, 36 mg per implany (drug active ingredients)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 3/8 in x 12 1/4 in x 2 1/4 in; 26.3525 cm x 31.115 cm x 5.715 cm