Eugenics raises it’s head in the US again January 14, 2006
Posted by David in News.add a comment
I came across this story whilst doing a search for vasectomy stories.
Basically, it’s about a group offering alcoholics money to use birth control. Currently they are offering $500 to the first 100 women who have a sterilisation performed. The offer is also open to men.
Sounds OK to pay drug addicts and alcoholics to be sterilised? Maybe it is. No more kids born into that enviroment, costs the state less in the long term. However, the motives of the group appear to be somewhat more sinster. The campaign started in California, but moved to Pasadena having failed to get a law passed making birth control mandatory for drug addicts and alcoholics in California.
Critics have likened the project to the eugenics movement of the 1930s which sought to prevent reproduction by various groups considered to be socially undesirable. The groups founder dismissed the criticism as “Nonesense”.
However, in my opinion it’s EXACTLY what was proposed by the Eugenics movement:-
In the late 19th century, rising populations in prisons and institutions for the feeble-minded or paupers led to the public perception of a degeneration in society that relentlessly would lead to “race suicide”. The socially inadequate were considered to include:-
(i) the mentally diseased, e.g. maniacs and schizophrenics
(ii) the dependant members of society, e.g. the deaf, deformed and blind
(iii) the delinquents, such as the wayward and criminals; (iv) the mentally deficient, e.g. the morons and idiots
(v) the degenerates, e.g. sadists and drug habitués
(vi) the infectious, such as those with tuberculosis, the syphilitics and lepers
The quote above is from the history of vasectomy article on the vasectomy-information site.
Is anyone surprised the law failed? As late as 2003, California was still issuing public apologies for it’s eugenics policy operated between 1909 and 1964.
Try Googling for “eugenics apology” and see what you get!
MOD pays £285,000 for failed vasectomy January 3, 2006
Posted by David in New research.add a comment
Interesting article published in the New Scotsman on payouts the Ministry of Defence has had to make in the last year.
The vasectomy was performed at a military medical clinic, and failed to sterilise the patient. His wife subsequently became pregnant and suffered clinical depression. I’d have liked a little more detail on this. Specifically, was he informed there is a failure risk? Normally that’s the legal defence for Doctors – they have a consent form where the patient has signed to indicating that he accepts there is a risk of failure. Maybe they pay out wasn’t in relation to failure, but the clinical depression?
Other payouts mentioned in the article relate to startling horeses and people. At the bottom of the article it mentions that there has been a bill published to curb frivolous “compensation culture” claims.
Youth has vasectomy to raise drugs cash December 26, 2005
Posted by David in News.add a comment
This story is from India. It’s long been the policy of the Indian government to promote uptake of vasectomy, and various incentives have been offered over the years. Sometimes to individuals to undergo vasectomy, and sometimes to third parties to recruit men for vasectomy.
The basis of the story is that A 20-year-old unmarried youth underwent vasectomy operation for some money. The father of the youth later approached the police, claiming that his son had been ‘forced into vasectomy’ by his friends, and claimed that the youth is mentally ill. Investigation revealed that he is a drug addict.
The youth underwent vasectomy in October, prompted by the Health Departments incentive of 1,000 Rupees (about US $22) each to men who underwent vasectomy. He registered as a 33-year-old married man with two children. He also stated that he was undergoing this operation with his wife’s consent.
The enquiry has been handed to District Family Planning Officer Dr Manorama Awasthy. Health authorities assert that their department is not at fault. The department seeks no documents such as marriage certificate and only the wife’s consent is needed, said an official. The role of the medical health worker who acted as a motivator in bringing the man to the camp is also under cloud. Sources say Dr Manorama will look into this aspect too.
The update posted on december 27 says that the case is now closed as the family knew their son was a drug addict and has refused to lodge a complaint with the police.
Does pond scum hold the key to a marketable male pill? December 10, 2005
Posted by David in New research.add a comment
There’s an interesting article just published on the mydna.com website. A Norwegian company has signed a licensing agreement with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to fund research that could bring about a male pill. Most of the research uses testosterone to supress the sperm production. This time they are taking a different approach.
Instead of shutting down sperm production, the new approach targets a protein in sperm cells that controls their ability to swim. The Norwegian plan targets the C protein in sperm. By suppressing that protein, the pill turns off the tiny tails that allow sperm to swim to the female egg for fertilization.
Researchers hit on the idea by watching pond scum. Algae are propelled through water by flagella. Human sperm use similar tails for movement. The C protein controls the motion of the flagella. Cut off the protein, researchers surmise, and the sperm won’t be able to swim. The protein exists nowhere else in the human body so shutting it down shouldn’t cause side effects, researchers say.
Researchers point to the fact that the development so far of the male pill has followed the same mind-set as female pills. Female contraceptives use hormones (estrogens and progestins) to prevent pregnancy by blocking the release of eggs. Researchers have tried the same tactic with men, manipulating hormones like testosterone and progestins to turn off sperm production.
And, like female pills, prototype male pills came with side effects like lowered muscle mass and a drop in sex drive. To balance the hormones in the pill, men needed testosterone replacement therapy injections every four to six weeks.
The article then goes on to discuss if men would use the male pill, and suggests that the main market for the male pill (should it ever come to market) may be outside the US.
Vasectomy and prostate cancer – AGAIN! December 4, 2005
Posted by David in New research.1 comment so far
I really have no idea as to why this topic is the subject of research any longer!
The latest study was done in the south of England – nobody asked me 
and unlike the Maryland study discussed a few posts back, this was a database trawl of medical records.
The pattern of research findings is so obvious it’s untrue! As I’ve said many times, medical record trawls that look at if the man has had a) a vasectomy, and b) some form of prostate cancer always reveal no association between the two. Whereas self reporting done via questionnaires usually does suggest an association.
As per the pattern, this study concludes that there is no elevation of risk after vasectomy of prostate and other cancers. In addition, the researchers found no association between vasectomy and coronary heart disease. The authors state that “Our findings add to the evidence that vasectomy is not associated with an increase in the long-term risk of these diseases”.
Using male hormonal contraception to control teenage pregnancy rates December 1, 2005
Posted by David in New research.add a comment
Using the “Male pill” to control unwanted teenage pregnancies? Just looking through some of the recently published studies, and this one caught my eye.
There have been a few papers published recently looking at male hormonal birth control (summary:- long way off as ever). The report states that there are several methods of birth control available to adolescents, but they aren’t used effectively. It looks at the possibility of using injectable hormonal birth control to control that rate of unwanted teenage pregnancies.
All sounds fine BUT….. they then go on to question if giving hormonal contraception to adolescent males is a good idea. The authors question if bone maturation might be affected using the prescribed doses – specifically they feel it might induce premature closure of the epiphyseal joints.
Increase in popularity of vasectomy according to latest US government stats November 26, 2005
Posted by David in New research.add a comment
No formal data collection system exists in the USA to collect and collate the number of sterilizations performed annually. The current oft-quoted figure of 500,000 vasectomies performed per year is not an accurate count – it’s an extrapolation of various smaller studies and surveys. However, most people accept that it’s likely to be accurate. It equates to approximately 11% of the population relying on vasectomy as their primary method of birth control.
This new study was undertaken by the Department of health & Human Services. The data was collected in 2002, and the paper was published on November 18, 2005. Basically, it’s in the form of a telephone questionnaire, and there were a total of 174,026 men and women to men and women in all US states and dependencies participating in the study.
Men and women answered differently. Both men and women reported Tubal Ligation equally, men had higher percentages for vasectomy and condom use, and women had higher percentage for the pill, and lower percentage for vasectomy and condom use. The statistics below are a combination of the percentages for man and women by state.
Vasectomy was most used in Washington (25.9%), and least used in the US Virgin Islands (3.7%). Overall, the results for primary method of birth control were:-
Pill 28.3%
Tubal ligation 22.9%
Condom 17.3%
Vasectomy 16.1%
In light of these figures, the 500,000 / 11% figures are likely to be under-estimates. I have summarised the stats here.
