Women are at higher risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) when using the Ortho Evra Contraceptive Transdermal Patch, according to a new label approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday.

VTE can lead to pulmonary embolism, the FDA said.

The prescription patch releases ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen hormone) and norelgestromin (a progestin hormone) through the skin into the blood stream

Teenagers who received sex education in school were less likely to have sexual intercourse before age 15, a new study says.

"Sex education seems to be working," said Trisha Mueller, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It seems to be especially effective for populations that are usually at high risk

Taking oral contraceptives can lower a young woman's bone density and could lead to osteoporosis, says a new study published in the journal Osteoporosis International.

The study by Hawley Almstedt and Christine M. Snow, professors of natural science at the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and Oregon State University, respectively, is the first to analyze bone density and oral contraceptives use among 18-25 year old women

In a disturbing new finding, European researchers say taking birth control pills for a year may lead to an increased risk of heart disease. Researchers from Ghent University in Belgium looked at 1,301 apparently healthy women between the ages of 25 and 55 who had previously used oral contraceptives, half of whom used them for 13 years or more.

The results found that women who had used the pills had an unexpected increase in the presence of artery-clogging plaque in key blood vessels in the heart and legs. This was especially true for the ones who had consumed high-estrogen ones sold decades ago

A Roche drug used by organ transplant patients can cause miscarriages and birth defects when used in pregnant women, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned on Monday.

CellCept, used by doctors to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, may lower blood levels of the hormones in birth control pills, thus making them less effective at preventing pregnancy