[msb-alumni] C. Wayne Bardin, 85, an Innovator Of Long-Term Birth Control, Is Dead
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:36:59 -0500
BlankC. Wayne Bardin, 85, an Innovator Of Long-Term Birth Control, Is Dead. By
Knvul
Sheikh.
He helped develop long-acting implanted contraceptive devices -- like Norplant,
Jadelle and Mirena -- used by millions of women around the world.
Dr. C. Wayne Bardin, a groundbreaking researcher in reproductive physiology,
who was
instrumental in the development of long-acting contraceptive methods -- like
Norplant, Jadelle and Mirena -- used by millions of women around the world,
died on
Oct. 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 85.. His wife, Beatrice Bardin,
confirmed
the death without specifying a cause. An endocrinologist, Dr. Bardin was
passionate
about finding ways for women to take control of their own health. While working
for
the nonprofit research organization the Population Council -- as director of
its
Center for Biomedical Research and chairman of its International Committee for
Contraception Research -- he oversaw clinical trials in the mid-1990s that led
to the
approval of mifepristone, or RU-486, a synthetic steroid used as part of the
so-called 'abortion pill' to terminate a pregnancy. When Dr. Bardin joined the
Population Council in the late 1970s, the birth-control pill had been around
for
nearly two decades, but it provided only short-term contraception; women had to
remember to take it regularly. And long-acting contraceptives, like
intrauterine
devices, or IUDs, which were developed in the early 1900s, were difficult to
insert
and remove and could have severe side effects. Many women who used them
experienced
cramps, infections and heavy bleeding. One IUD, the Dalkon Shield, was linked
in the
1970s to incidences of pelvic inflammatory disease and even death, casting a
shadow
over the entire market. Dr. Bardin resolved to invest in new 'bench to bedside'
research -- where the results of laboratory work are used directly on patients
-- to
develop better contraceptive drugs and delivery systems. 'As much as he
respected
basic research, Dr. Bardin really wanted to see products that would change
people's
lives come to fruition,' said James Sailer, the current executive director of
the
Center for Biomedical Research, in New York City. Dr. Bardin was part of a
research
team led by Sheldon J. Segal that developed Norplant, a tiny device in which
six
silicon rods the size of matchsticks, surgically implanted under the skin of
the
upper arm, release small amounts of the female hormone progestin every day. The
hormone prevented pregnancy by thickening cervical mucus, making it
impenetrable by
sperm, and stopping the regular release of eggs for up to five years. It was
one of
the first significant advances in long-acting contraceptives since the Dalkon
Shield
disaster. Introduced in 1991, Norplant was hailed as a welcome alternative to
birth-control pills. 'Once it was put in, women didn't need to remember to take
medication every day,' Elizabeth Watkins, who studies the history of
contraceptives
at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a phone interview. 'You
could
set it and forget it. But Norplant, too, turned out to have unwanted side
effects.
Some women complained of unpredictable bleeding, Dr. Watkins said; others
experienced
weight gain and hair loss. Many doctors and Planned Parenthood clinics declined
to
stock the device because of its cost ($365 per kit, plus about $500 more for
the
insertion -- totaling, in today's money, about $1,250). Moreover, they said,
they
could treat more women with birth-control pills, which presented fewer side
effects.
From 1991 to 1994, legislators in many states proposed ways to incentivize the
use of
Norplant among welfare recipients, or even force them to use it, hoping that if
women
on welfare had fewer children, government costs would be reduced. None of these
proposals became law, but the increasing controversy surrounding Norplant led
its
manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories (now Wyeth Pharmaceuticals) to take it
off
the market in 2002. It was never re-introduced. Seeking a successor to
Norplant, Dr.
Bardin and his team developed an implanted delivery system manufactured by
Schering
Oy under the name Jadelle. Jadelle uses just two silicon rods, in contrast to
Norplant's six, to release a form of progestin. The federal Food and Drug
Administration approved the device, initially as a means to prevent pregnancies
for
three years, a period that was later increased to five years, but in the wake
of the
Norplant controversy the manufacturer decided to market it only outside the
United
States. A few years later another contraceptive device that Dr. Bardin and
others
developed at the Population Council was approved by the F.D.A. and introduced
by
Berlex Laboratories (now Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals) as Mirena, an IUD
that
emits a progestin for five years. He also oversaw the development of Nestorone,
a
novel progestin that is released for up to a year through an easy-to-use
vaginal
ring, also developed by the researchers, that women could insert and remove
themselves. The device was approved by the F.DA. under the brand name Annovera
in
2018. Dr. Bardin's research for the Population Council also helped scientists
understand how mifepristone, or RU-486, works to abort a pregnancy. A synthetic
steroid, RU-486 blocks the action of progesterone and prompts the uterus to
shed its
lining. It becomes what is known as the 'abortion pill' when used in
combination with
misoprostol, which causes contractions. The F.D.A. approved RU-486 in 2000. Dr.
Bardin paved the way for successful research into male contraceptives as well.
'There
has been a lot of skepticism around whether men would ever use a contraceptive,
but
Dr. Bardin saw it as an obvious unmet need,' said Mr. Sailer, of the Center for
Biomedical Research. Developing male contraception has proved to be a challenge
simply because men typically produce millions of sperm every day. But
scientists at
the Population Council built on Dr. Bardin's research, combining Nestorone with
the
male hormone testosterone to develop a gel that suppresses sperm production
while
maintaining sexual drive. It is now being tested in human clinical trials.
Clyde
Wayne Bardin was born on Sept. 18, 1934, in McCamey, Tex., to James Bardin and
Nora
Irene (Barnett) Bardin. In Houston, he graduated from Rice University with a
bachelor's degree in biology in 1957 and from what is now the Baylor College of
Medicine in 1962. After completing his medical internship and residency
training at
the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Bardin joined the
endocrinology
research program at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. In 1970, he
was
recruited to become chief of the Division of Endocrinology at Penn State
University
at Hershey. He joined the Population Council in 1978. Dr. Bardin was at
different
times president of the Endocrine Society and president of the American Society
of
Andrology and received numerous awards. In his last decade he continued to work
as a
consultant for the Population Council and other organizations. Dr. Bardin's
first
marriage, to Bonnie Lambdin, ended in divorce in 1978. His second wife, Dr.
Dorothy
Terrace Krieger, died in 1985. In 1987 he married Beatrice Clement, who
survives him,
along with two daughters from his first marriage, Charlotte Merritt and
Stephanie
Torre; three stepchildren, Bryce MacDonald, Cybille MacDonald and Alexis
Bormann; and
six grandchildren. Dr. Bardin and his wife enjoyed inviting colleagues and
young
researchers to dinner at their New York apartment, where conversation,
stretching
from medicine to culture to politics, could last for hours. 'Sitting next to
him was
the best seat in the house,' Stephanie Torre said of Dr. Bardin. 'My dad was a
tremendous conversationalist. He would focus all his attention on you and
listen to
you and show that he really cared about what you were talking about.
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