Novel male contraception has the potential to enhance reproductive autonomy for men
[
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
] and offer greater equity in contraceptive responsibility for monogamous or non-monogamous
heterosexual relationships [
[1]
]. However, novel male contraceptives have been in development for decades, with no
method able to reach the market to-date. Technical challenges inherent in the development
of novel reversible male contraceptives have been detailed in other publications [
5
,
6
]. The negative impact of gender bias in this setting has also been explored [
[1]
]. Moreover, medicolegal issues have presented enormous challenges in female contraception development, leading to the discontinuation of some approved products. Similar concerns
are likely to affect the development of novel male contraception, which is thus far
unexplored and will require further analysis. For our purposes here, we will focus
on one of the key ethical challenges in this domain. How ought medical professionals
and researchers assess the balance of nonmaleficence (do no harm or avoid risks) and
beneficence (seek the greatest good or benefit) [
[7]
], when male contraception has impacts that extend beyond the user of the contraceptive?Keywords
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References
- No more larking around! Why we need male LARCs.Hastings Cent Rep. 2011; 41: 22-32
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US Food and Drug Administration. Development and Approval Process, https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/default.htm; 2018 [accessed 27 March 2019].
USC § 654.
U.S.C.§ 228
Blacksher E. Public Health Ethics. Ethics in Medicine. Seattle: University of Washington. Available from: http://depts.washington.edu/bhdept/ethics-medicine/bioethics-topics/detail/76, last accessed October 10, 2019).
- Efficacy and safety of an injectable combination hormonal contraceptive for men.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016; 101: 4779-4788
- The ethics of organ donation by living donors.N Engl J Med. 2005; 353: 444-446
- Male experiences of unintended pregnancy: characteristics and prevalence.Hum Reprod. 2015; 30: 186-196
- Are men well served by family planning programs?.Reprod Health. 2017; 14: 14
- The ethics of care: personal, political, and global.Oxford University Press, Oxford2006
- Mortality from venous thromboembolism in young Swedish women and its relation to pregnancy and the use of oral contraceptives-an approach to specifying rates.Eur J Epidemiol. 2005; 20: 509-516
- New findings for maternal mortality age patterns: aggregated results for 38 countries.PLOS One. 2013; 8e59864
- Predictors of contraceptive switching and discontinuation within the first 6 months of use among Highly Effective Reversible Contraceptive Initiative Salt Lake study participants.Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2019; 220 (376.e371-376.e1312)
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 28, 2020
Accepted:
May 19,
2020
Received in revised form:
May 18,
2020
Received:
June 13,
2019
Footnotes
☆Funding: Dr. Amory is supported, in part, by grants K24HD082231 and R01HD098039 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Reproduction, a Division of the National Institutes of Health.
☆☆Disclosures: Dr. Amory has received research and consultative funding from Clarus Therapeutics. Dr. Nickels is an employee of Male Contraceptive Initiative, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
★Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.
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© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
