RI Health Dept Censures Women’s Centers Over IUDs

June 23, 2010 9:19 pm

*NOTE – The RI Health Department has set up a phone line for women with questions related to this story. From the Health Department website:

“Women who had a Mirena or ParaGard IUD implanted by OB-GYN Associates after January 1, 2009, and want to receive future updates about this investigation or want to file a complaint, should call the Department of Health at 222-8022. Reproductive health specialists from Women & Infants Hospital will also be available to answer questions. The line will be staffed Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Staff speak English and Spanish.”

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A Rhode Island obstetrics practice has been censured for providing women with intrauterine contraceptive devices that aren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The state Health Department issued a compliance order Wednesday to OB-GYN Associates, Inc., which has seven locations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The order prohibits the center from implanting IUDs in patients until further notice. It also requires the center to notify women who have received the IUDs since January 2009.

Health officials say they can't vouch for their effectiveness.

State Health Director David Gifford says women treated at the center may want to have their IUDs removed, though there's no urgent need to do so. He says it's not clear where the center got the IUDs, which the state confiscated Wednesday.

A phone message left with the office manager was not immediately returned.