Levonorgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol

INDICATIONS AND USAGE Levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets are indicated for the prevention of pregnancy in women who elect to use oral contraceptives as a method of contraception. Oral contraceptives are highly effective for pregnancy prevention. Table 2 lists the typical unintended pregnancy rates for users of combination oral contraceptives and other methods of contraception. The efficacy of these contraceptive methods, except sterilization, the IUD, and implants, depend upon the reliability with which they are used. Correct and consistent use of methods can result in lower failure rates. Table 2: Percentage of Women Experiencing an Unintended Pregnancy During The First Year of Typical Use and The First Year of Perfect Use of Contraception and The Percentage Continuing Use at The End of the First Year. United States. % of Women Experiencing an Unintended Pregnancy within the First Year of Use % of Women Continuing Use at One Year 3 Method (1) Typical Use 1 (2) Perfect Use 2 (3) (4) Chance 4 85 85 Spermicides 5 26 6 40 Periodic abstinence 25 63 Calendar 9 Ovulation Method 3 Sympto-Thermal 6 2 Post-Ovulation 1 Cap 7 Parous Women 40 26 42 Nulliparous Women 20 9 56 Sponge Parous Women 40 20 42 Nulliparous Women 20 9 56 Diaphragm 7 20 6 56 Withdrawal 19 4 Condom 8 Female (Reality TM ) 21 5 56 Male 14 3 61 Pill 5 71 Progestin only 0.5 Combined 0.1 IUD Progesterone T 2 1.5 81 Copper T380A 0.8 0.6 78 LNg 20 0.1 0.1 81 Depo-Provera ® 0.3 0.3 70 Levonorgestrel Implants (Norplant ®) 0.05 0.05 88 Female Sterilization 0.5 0.5 100 Male Sterilization 0.15 0.10 100 Emergency Contraceptive Pills: The FDA has concluded that certain combined oral contraceptives containing ethinyl estradiol and norgestrel or levonorgestrel are safe and effective for use as postcoital emergency contraception. Treatment initiated within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse reduces the risk of pregnancy by at least 75%. 9 Lactation Amenorrhea Method: LAM is a highly effective, temporary method of contraception. 10 Source: Trussell J. Contraceptive efficacy. In: Hatcher RA, Trussell J, Stewart F, Cates W, Stewart GK, Kowel D, Guest F. Contraceptive Technology: Seventeenth Revised Edition. New York NY: Irvington Publishers; 1998. 1. Among typical couples who initiate use of a method (not necessarily for the first time), the percentage who experience an accidental pregnancy during the first year if they do not stop use for any other reason. 2. Among couples who initiate use of a method (not necessarily for the first time) and who use it perfectly (both consistently and correctly), the percentage who experience an accidental pregnancy during the first year if they do not stop use for any other reason. 3. Among couples attempting to avoid pregnancy, the percentage who continue to use a method for one year. 4. The percents becoming pregnant in columns (2) and (3) are based on data from populations where contraception is not used and from women who cease using contraception in order to become pregnant. Among such populations, about 89% become pregnant within one year. This estimate was lowered slightly (to 85%) to represent the percent who would become pregnant within one year among women now relying on reversible methods of contraception if they abandoned contraception altogether. 5. Foams, creams, gels, vaginal suppositories, and vaginal film. 6. Cervical mucus (ovulation) method supplemented by calendar in the pre-ovulatory and basal body temperature in the post-ovulatory phases. 7. With spermicidal cream or jelly. 8. Without spermicides. 9. The treatment schedule is one dose within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse and a second dose 12 hours after the first dose. The FDA has declared the following dosage regimens of oral contraceptives to be safe and effective for emergency contraception: for tablets containing 0.05 mg of ethinyl estradiol and 0.5 mg of norgestrel 1 dose is 2 tablets; for tablets containing 0.02 mg of ethinyl estradiol and 0.1 mg of l…

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION To achieve maximum contraceptive effectiveness, levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets must be taken exactly as directed and at intervals not exceeding 24 hours. The possibility of ovulation and conception prior to initiation of medication should be considered. Women who do not wish to become pregnant after discontinuation should be advised to immediately use another method of birth control. The dosage of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets is one brownish peach to light brown tablet daily without any tablet-free interval. It is recommended that levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets be taken at the same time each day. Initiation of Therapy Instructions for beginning levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol are provided in Table 4 below. Table 4 Current contraceptive therapy Levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol start day Nonhormonal back-up method of birth control needed when correctly starting levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol? None Day 1 of patient's menstrual cycle (during the first 24 hours of her period) No 21-day COC regimen OR 28-day COC regimen Day 1 of patient's withdrawal bleed, at the latest 7 days after her last active tablet No Progestin-only pill Day after taking a progestin-only pill Yes, for the first 7 days of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablet taking Implant Day of implant removal Yes, for the first 7 days of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablet taking Injection Day the next injection is due Yes, for the first 7 days of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablet taking If spotting or unscheduled bleeding occurs, the patient is instructed to continue on the same regimen. This type of bleeding is usually transient and without significance; however, if the bleeding is persistent or prolonged, the patient is advised to consult her health care professional. The possibility of ovulation increases with each successive day that scheduled brownish peach to light brown tablets are missed. If the patient has not adhered to the prescribed schedule (missed one or more tablets or started taking them on a day later than she should have), the probability of pregnancy should be considered. Hormonal contraception must be discontinued if pregnancy is confirmed. The risk of pregnancy increases with each tablet missed. For additional patient instructions regarding missed tablets, see the WHAT TO DO IF YOU MISS PILLS section in the DETAILED PATIENT LABELING below. Levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol may be initiated no earlier than day 28 postpartum in the nonlactating mother or after a second-trimester abortion due to the increased risk for thromboembolism (see CONTRAINDICATIONS , WARNINGS , and PRECAUTIONS concerning thromboembolic disease). The patient should be advised to use a nonhormonal back-up method for the first 7 days of tablet-taking. However, if intercourse has already occurred, pregnancy should be excluded before the start of combined oral contraceptive use or the patient must wait for her first menstrual period. In the case of first-trimester abortion, if the patient starts levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol immediately, additional contraceptive measures are not needed.

WARNINGS Cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects from oral contraceptive use. This risk increases with age and with the extent of smoking (in epidemiologic studies, 15 or more cigarettes per day was associated with a significantly increased risk) and is quite marked in women over 35 years of age. Women who use oral contraceptives should be strongly advised not to smoke. The use of oral contraceptives is associated with increased risks of several serious conditions including venous and arterial thrombotic and thromboembolic events (such as myocardial infarction, thromboembolism, stroke, and transient ischemic attack), hepatic neoplasia, gallbladder disease, and hypertension, although the risk of serious morbidity or mortality is very small in healthy women without underlying risk factors. The risk of morbidity and mortality increases significantly in the presence of other underlying risk factors such as certain inherited or acquired thrombophilias, hypertension, hyperlipidemias, obesity, diabetes, and surgery or trauma with increased risk of thrombosis (see CONTRAINDICATIONS ). Practitioners prescribing oral contraceptives should be familiar with the following information relating to these risks. The information contained in this package insert is principally based on studies carried out in patients who used oral contraceptives with higher doses of estrogens and progestogens than those in common use today. The effect of long-term use of the oral contraceptives with lower doses of both estrogens and progestogens remains to be determined. Throughout this labeling, epidemiological studies reported are of two types: retrospective or case control studies and prospective or cohort studies. Case control studies provide a measure of the relative risk of disease, namely, a ratio of the incidence of a disease among oral contraceptive users to that among nonusers. The relative risk does not provide information on the actual clinical occurrence of a disease. Cohort studies provide a measure of attributable risk, which is the difference in the incidence of disease between oral contraceptive users and nonusers. The attributable risk does provide information about the actual occurrence of a disease in the population. For further information, the reader is referred to a text on epidemiological methods. 1. Thromboembolic Disorders and Other Vascular Problems Levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol is a non-cyclic oral contraceptive that provides a low daily dose of estrogen and progestin; however, levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol provides women with more hormonal exposure on a yearly basis (13 additional weeks of hormone intake per year) than conventional cyclic oral contraceptives containing the same strength of synthetic estrogens and similar strength of progestins. a. Myocardial Infarction An increased risk of myocardial infarction has been attributed to oral contraceptive use. This risk is primarily in smokers or women with other underlying risk factors for coronary-artery disease such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, morbid obesity, and diabetes. The relative risk of heart attack for current oral contraceptive users has been estimated to be two to six. The risk is very low under the age of 30. Smoking in combination with oral contraceptive use has been shown to contribute substantially to the incidence of myocardial infarction in women in their mid-thirties or older with smoking accounting for the majority of excess cases. Mortality rates associated with circulatory disease have been shown to increase substantially in smokers over the age of 35 and nonsmokers over the age of 40 (Figure 3) among women who use oral contraceptives. Figure 3: Circulatory Disease Mortality Rates per 100,000 Woman Years by Age, Smoking Status and Oral Contraceptive Use Oral contraceptives may compound the effects of well-known risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemias, age, and obesity. In particular…

CONTRAINDICATIONS Levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets are contraindicated in females who are known to have or develop the following conditions : Thrombophlebitis or thromboembolic disorders History of deep-vein thrombophlebitis or thromboembolic disorders Cerebrovascular or coronary artery disease (current or past history) Valvular heart disease with thrombogenic complications Thrombogenic rhythm disorders Hereditary or acquired thrombophilias Major surgery with prolonged immobilization Diabetes with vascular involvement Headaches with focal neurological symptoms such as aura Uncontrolled hypertension Current diagnosis of, or history of, breast cancer, which may be hormone-sensitive Carcinoma of the endometrium or other known or suspected estrogen-dependent neoplasia Undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding Cholestatic jaundice of pregnancy or jaundice with prior pill use Hepatic adenomas or carcinomas, or active liver disease Known or suspected pregnancy Hypersensitivity to any of the components of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol. Are receiving Hepatitis C drug combinations containing ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, with or without dasabuvir, due to the potential for ALT elevations (see Warnings, RISK OF LIVER ENZYME ELEVATIONS WITH CONCOMITANT HEPATITIS C TREATMENT) .

9. Drug Interactions Changes in Contraceptive Effectiveness Associated with Coadministration of Other Products: Contraceptive effectiveness may be reduced when hormonal contraceptives are coadministered with antibiotics, anticonvulsants, and other drugs that increase the metabolism of contraceptive steroids. This could result in unintended pregnancy or unscheduled bleeding. Examples include rifampin, rifabutin, barbiturates, primidone, phenylbutazone, phenytoin, dexamethasone, carbamazepine, felbamate, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, griseofulvin, and modafinil. In such cases a nonhormonal back-up method of birth control should be considered. Several cases of contraceptive failure and unscheduled bleeding have been reported in the literature with concomitant administration of antibiotics such as ampicillin and other penicillins, and tetracyclines. However, clinical pharmacology studies investigating drug interactions between combined oral contraceptives and these antibiotics have reported inconsistent results. Enterohepatic recirculation of estrogens may also be decreased by substances that reduce gut transit time. Several of the anti-HIV protease inhibitors have been studied with coadministration of oral combination hormonal contraceptives; significant changes (increase and decrease) in the plasma levels of the estrogen and progestin have been noted in some cases. The safety and efficacy of oral contraceptive products may be affected with coadministration of anti-HIV protease inhibitors. Health care professionals should refer to the label of the individual anti-HIV protease inhibitors for further drug-drug interaction information. Herbal products containing St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) may induce hepatic enzymes (cytochrome P 450) and p-glycoprotein transporter and may reduce the effectiveness of contraceptive steroids. This may also result in unscheduled bleeding. Increase in Plasma Levels Associated with Coadministered Drugs: Coadministration of atorvastatin and certain oral contraceptives containing ethinyl estradiol increases AUC values for ethinyl estradiol by approximately 20%. Ascorbic acid and acetaminophen increase the bioavailability of ethinyl estradiol since these drugs act as competitive inhibitors for sulfation of ethinyl estradiol in the gastrointestinal wall, a known pathway of elimination for ethinyl estradiol. CYP 3A4 inhibitors such as indinavir, itraconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, and troleandomycin may increase plasma hormone levels. Troleandomycin may also increase the risk of intrahepatic cholestasis during coadministration with combination oral contraceptives. Changes in Plasma Levels of Coadministered Drugs: Combination hormonal contraceptives containing some synthetic estrogens (eg, ethinyl estradiol) may inhibit the metabolism of other compounds. Increased plasma concentrations of cyclosporine, prednisolone and other corticosteroids, and theophylline have been reported with concomitant administration of oral contraceptives. Decreased plasma concentrations of acetaminophen and lamotrigine, and increased clearance of temazepam, salicylic acid, morphine, and clofibric acid, due to induction of conjugation (particularly glucuronidation), have been noted when these drugs were administered with oral contraceptives. The prescribing information of concomitant medications should be consulted to identify potential interactions. Concomitant Use with HCV Combination Therapy - Liver Enzyme Elevation Do not co-administer levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol with HCV drug combinations containing ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, with or without dasabuvir, due to potential for ALT elevations (see Warnings, RISK OF LIVER ENZYME ELEVATIONS WITH CONCOMITANT HEPATITIS C TREATMENT ).

12. Pregnancy See CONTRAINDICATIONS and WARNINGS sections.

13. Nursing Mothers Small amounts of oral contraceptive steroids and/or metabolites have been identified in the milk of nursing mothers, and a few adverse effects on the child have been reported, including jaundice and breast enlargement. In addition, combination oral contraceptives given in the postpartum period may interfere with lactation by decreasing the quantity and quality of breast milk. If possible, the nursing mother should be advised not to use combination oral contraceptives, but to use other forms of contraception until she has completely weaned her child.

ADVERSE REACTIONS An increased risk of the following serious adverse reactions (see WARNINGS section for additional information) has been associated with the use of oral contraceptives: Thromboembolic and thrombotic disorders and other vascular problems (including thrombophlebitis and venous thrombosis with or without pulmonary embolism, mesenteric thrombosis, arterial thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral thrombosis, transient ischemic attack), carcinoma of the reproductive organs and breasts, hepatic neoplasia/liver disease (including hepatic adenomas or benign liver tumors), ocular lesions (including retinal vascular thrombosis), gallbladder disease, carbohydrate and lipid effects, elevated blood pressure, and headache including migraine. The following adverse reactions have been reported in patients receiving oral contraceptives and are believed to be drug related (alphabetically listed): Acne Amenorrhea Anaphylactic/anaphylactoid reactions, including urticaria, angioedema, and severe reactions with respiratory and circulatory symptoms Breast changes: tenderness, pain, enlargement, secretion Budd-Chiari syndrome Cervical erosion and secretion, change in Cholestatic jaundice Chorea, exacerbation of Colitis Contact lenses, intolerance to Corneal curvature (steepening), change in Dizziness Edema/fluid retention Erythema multiforme Erythema nodosum Focal nodular hyperplasia Gastrointestinal symptoms (such as abdominal pain, cramps, and bloating) Hirsutism Infertility after discontinuation of treatment, temporary Lactation, diminution in, when given immediately postpartum Libido, change in Melasma/chloasma which may persist Menstrual flow, change in Mood changes, including depression Nausea Nervousness Pancreatitis Porphyria, exacerbation of Rash (allergic) Scalp hair, loss of Serum folate levels, decrease in Spotting Systemic lupus erythematosus, exacerbation of Unscheduled bleeding Vaginitis, including candidiasis Varicose veins, aggravation of Vomiting Weight or appetite (increase or decrease), change in The following adverse reactions have been reported in users of oral contraceptives: Cataracts Cystitis-like syndrome Dysmenorrhea Hemolytic uremic syndrome Hemorrhagic eruption Optic neuritis, which may lead to partial or complete loss of vision Premenstrual syndrome Renal function, impaired Post Marketing Experience Five studies that compared breast cancer risk between ever-users (current or past use) of COCs and never-users of COCs reported no association between ever use of COCs and breast cancer risk, with effect estimates ranging from 0.90 to 1.12 (Figure 6). Three studies compared breast cancer risk between current or recent COC users (<6 months since last use) and never users of COCs (Figure 6). One of these studies reported no association between breast cancer risk and COC use. The other two studies found an increased relative risk of 1.19 to 1.33 with current or recent use. Both of these studies found an increased risk of breast cancer with current use of longer duration, with relative risks ranging from 1.03 with less than one year of COC use to approximately 1.4 with more than 8 to 10 years of COC use. RR = relative risk; OR = odds ratio; HR = hazard ratio. “ever COC” are females with current or past COC use; “never COC use” are females that never used COCs. image-05