Human guinea pigs? The history of the early oral contraceptive clinical trials

Abstract

Today it is estimated that over 100 million women worldwide have taken oral contraceptives since their first clinical trials in 1956. Despite their popularity, however, contraceptive pills have been under constant scrutiny for their safety since the time of their marketing. This paper considers the degree to which the pill was tested before it was introduced on to the market and challenges many assumptions that have been made about the use scientists made of women in its development. Examining the early testing of the pill, the paper makes clear that the success of the pill and its testing depended on the active co‐operation of the women who swallowed the tablet in its experimental stage. Far from being guinea‐pigs, women were thus active participants in the making of the pill.