The headlines spelled the end of a short-lived scientific hope: “Male birth control study nixed after men can’t handle side effects women face daily,” USA Today announced. “Men Back Out of Male Birth Control Study Because They Couldn’t Handle the ‘Changes in Mood,’” proclaimed People.
It was a high-profile — and highly embarrassing — end to a clinical trial that researchers hoped would usher in a new era of birth control. But the headlines obscured more complicated truths about the hard work of developing male contraceptives, and running clinical trials to assess their effectiveness. Years later, the field is still navigating the fallout.
Male contraceptive research has never garnered as much interest or investment as female birth control studies. But the 2016 study dashed nascent hopes of industry collaboration and the money that would come with it. “It depressed the whole field for a while,” said Diana Blithe, chief of the NIH Contraceptive Development Program, who was not involved in the study. Though other news outlets attempted to correct the record — men were not wimps; they actually liked the birth control — the damage was done. Even now, male birth control still sounds like “you are basically offering people a potential lawsuit,” said Heather Vahdat, executive director of the Male Contraceptive Initiative.
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