Posted on 04/22/2005 12:55:32 PM PDT by Dog Gone
TRENTON, N.J. — The Today Sponge contraceptive is returning to the market after a decade as federal regulators deemed it "spongeworthy" again.
Allendale Pharmaceuticals said the Food and Drug Administration has approved U.S. sales of the sponge, which was the favorite nonprescription birth control product of women when it was withdrawn from the market in 1995.
"They can re-enter the U.S. market," FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said today. "The product was found to be safe and effective."
The polyurethane sponges, which have been sold in Canada and over the Internet since March 2003, will be available soon on a company Web site and later at retailers.
"I'm overwhelmed," Gene Detroyer, president and chief executive officer of Allendale Pharmaceuticals, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. "I am pleased both from a business point of view ... and from the point of view that we can add another contraceptive for women."
Allendale bought rights to sell the Today Sponge several years ago from the prior manufacturer, American Home Products, which is now Wyeth of Madison. American Home stopped making the sponge rather than upgrade a manufacturing plant after FDA found deficiencies there.
The device's effectiveness and safety were never questioned.
The fierce loyalty of the product's fans was depicted in hilarious fashion on the sitcom "Seinfeld." The character Elaine Benes scoured stores for her favorite birth control, then stretched her supply by setting "spongeworthy" standards for prospective lovers.
The Today Sponge prevents pregnancy by covering the cervix and releasing spermicide from inside the soft, concave device. Roughly 250 million of the sponges were sold from 1983 to 1995.
While it was less effective than several other methods and does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases, the sponge achieved a wide following among women who saw advantages from spontaneity to availability.
Is there something wrong with a married couple deciding to space their children, or to limit them to what they can afford? Maybe you think there is.
Contraception is NOT contraception. This is a relatively unreliable method, results in a one-year failure rate of 13 to 16 per year, that's a lot more potential abortions than the pill or sterilization. They should have left this one off the market.
That one works. LOL
Criminal indifference is no laughing matter. :)
I never realized that they were mean until that final episode!! Their behavior seemed normal to me, but then I have my little pet names for everybody too! :)
"You're gonna do something about those sideburns, right?"
ROFL......that was a classic
Uhhh, yea, right. LOL
Is this what Sponge Bob is all about?
ROTFLMAO!
ELAINE (with little hope): Yeah, do you have any Today sponges? I know they're off the market, but...
PHARMACIST: Actually, we have a case left.
ELAINE (excited): A case! A case of sponges? I mean, uh...a case. Huh. Uh...how many come in a case?
PHARMACIST: Sixty.
ELAINE: Sixty?! Uh...well, I'll take three.
PHARMACIST: Three.
ELAINE: Make it ten.
PHARMACIST: Ten?
ELAINE: Twenty sponges should be plenty.
PHARMACIST: Did you say twenty?
ELAINE: Yeah, twenty-five sponges is just fine.
PHARMACIST: Right. So, you're set with twenty-five.
ELAINE: Yeah. Just give me the whole case and I'll be on my way.
SUSAN: Come on, George, just tear it open.
GEORGE: I'm trying, dammit.
SUSAN: Tear it.
GEORGE: I tried to tear it from the side, you can't get a good grip here. You gotta do it like a bag of chips.
SUSAN: Here give it to me.
GEORGE: Would you wait a second? Just wait?
SUSAN: Give it to me. Come on. Come on!
GEORGE (tosses the condom aside): It's too late.
She didn't share my sense of humor. It wasn't much of a loss.
That is just classic!
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