Florida women now have access to a non-surgical sterilization method that has been available to women in other countries for 25 years. This is an ultra-safe, low-cost, office procedure that has been used by thousands of women in all over the world with no reported deaths or life-threatening injuries.
For Immediate Release
DAYTONA BEACH, FL. — 2003
This method utilizes the antibiotic quinacrine hydrochloride,
which has a 70- year U.S. safety record. It has been taken by
mouth by millions of American men, women, and children for the
prevention and treatment of malaria, and for the treatment of
giardia, an intestinal parasite, in much larger doses than required
for this sterilization method. It remains the only U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug for the treatment of giardia.
Though the FDA has not yet approved the use of quinacrine for
this intrauterine sterilization technique, it has completed a
small Phase I clinical trial In Buffalo, New York with principal
investigator Dr. Jack Lippes, the inventor of the Lippes Loop
IUD (intrauterine device). This FDA approved drug, like all others,
can be legally used for a use not yet approved by the FDA. In
fact, it is estimated that 60% of all prescriptions in the U.S.
are written for FDA unapproved uses.
The vast experience with quinacrine sterilization in 130,000
women abroad has proven it to be much safer, with a serious complication
rate only 1/50th that of surgical sterilization. Though the surgical
method is much safer than childbirth, more than a dozen U.S. women
die each year while undergoing this procedure and thousands more
are hospitalized with complications. The failure rate with surgical
sterilization is about 2% at 10 years, while the failure rate
with QS is about twice that.
How does QS work? In an out-patient setting,
252 mg of quinacrine in seven tiny pellets are gently inserted
into the uterus with a modified IUD inserter at a depth ½-1
cm short of the top of the cavity. Within 30 minutes, the pellets
dissolve into a liquid which flows into the fallopian tubes. The
inflammatory response from the antibiotic liquid destroys the
1-cell thick tubal lining resulting in scar tissue with healing.
This, in effect, creates tubal obstruction and permanent sterilization.
The technique is performed twice in successive months, during
the week following the woman’s menstrual period. It is important
that she use effective contraception for three months (depo-progesterone
intramuscularly is preferred).
Dr. Randall B. Whitney, based in Daytona Beach, FL, has performed
QS for seven women in his private GYN practice over the past two
years. These women are delighted with the ease of the ambulatory
procedure (no time lost from work or daily activities) and statements
of praise can be seen at his website (www.drwhitney.com).
Dr. Whitney presented his QS technique experience at the 8th International
Seminar on Primary Health Care in June 2002 in Havana, Cuba, and
has been invited to speak again at the preeminent International
Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) triennial conference
in Santiago, Chile, in November 2003.
For additional information, call 1-800-810-9840 (Southern
U.S.), or 1-386-253-1933.
Printable PDF Version
