Norplant Sales Decline After Adverse Publicity

Adverse publicity and negative word-of-mouth have pushed American sales of Wyeth-Ayerst's implantable contraceptive Norplant down from 800 units per day to just 60. Nevertheless, the company has insisted that it has no plans to remove the device from the market, which was launched in 1991, despite a wave of lawsuits relating to the silicone content of the product.

Lawsuits have been initiated in the USA alleging that Norplant is causing silicone-related diseases (made famous by the silicone breast implant litigation; Marketletters passim), according to a report in the New York Times. The number of suits filed against Wyeth and parent American Home Products have jumped from 20 in the first three years the device was on the market to 180 last year, including 46 class action suits. While none of these have yet come to court, the cost of defending them will be daunting.

The lawsuits allege wide-ranging side effects from Norplant, including memory loss, muscle pain, depression, autoimmune disorders, cancer and heart attacks. Norplant takes the form of five implantable rods, approximately matchstick size, which are inserted into the flesh of the upper arm. Clearly, the silicone component is not blamed for all the side effects - some suits are citing reactions to the hormone component or difficulties in its removal.