Birth-control pills, now in spearmint (and chewable)

For those women who may have trouble swallowing pills, one contraceptive maker has come up with an alternative: a spearmint-flavored pill that can be chewed and chased with a full glass of water. Those 8 ounces of water are needed to ensure that all the medication reaches the bloodstream.

The chewable version of Ovcon-35 was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 14. Like its Ovcon predecessor, the pill combines an estrogen called ethinyl estradiol with the progestin northethindrone.

Chewable Ovcon-35 will be manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in Princeton, N.J., and marketed by Warner Chilcott Inc. in Rockaway, N.J., a division of Galen of Northern Ireland. It probably will be launched in the spring, said David G. Kelly, a senior vice president at Galen.

“Some women just cannot swallow pills, so having a chewable contraceptive makes this an option for them now,” said Rachel Jones, senior research associate for the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York.

-- Jane E. Allen