The burden for women to take birth control may be lifted and finally put on men. After a series of successful tests in rabbits and baboons, Vasalgel, a fully reversible male birth control treatment, will begin human trials in the next two years. But here’s the catch, Vasalgel works by injecting it directly into the vas deferens.
The treatment works by plugging up the vas deferens, preventing sperm from entering the seminal fluids. “It is kind of a dam for sperm, they can’t swim past it,” said medical ethicist Art Caplan on Boston Public Radio Wednesday.
To reverse the block, sodium bicarbonate is injected into the vas deferens, dissolving the Vasalgel and freeing the sperm to impregnate once again. Caplan says, that we are still at least three years from seeing this as a viable form of birth control. “Don’t get worried out there and imagining those big needles,” he said.
Caplan believes that this treatment will not catch on with men. “I think men are somewhat morally irresponsible. They don’t do the things they could do now to do birth control. They dump the whole thing on women. They blame women for not doing the right thing when a pregnancy occurs that is unwanted.”
When asked if Caplan would use the treatment he said, “Not me, doesn’t sound good.”
Art Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical CenterArt Caplan. You can listen to his interview with Boston Public Radio above.
