A Questionable Medicine Book

[TheLordsCanary]

I am supposed to be going on the medicine Accutane for acne. As part of the preparation to take it, I was given a booklet on birth control and told to read it. I do not intend ever to use any form of birth control. I am, in fact, skirting the rules of taking Accutane that say you must be on birth control while taking the medication (the doctors are letting me put abstinence on the form as my method of birth control). But because I was curious, I read the booklet. Was it a sin for me to read it?

 

[puzzleannie]

was it a sin to read a booklet that explains side effects of your prescribed medication? in what way could it conceivably be a sin?. It presumably warns you that the medication could affect your unborn child so warns not not to become pregnant while on the medication. There is nothing sinful about not becoming pregnant, and nothing sinful about being well-informed about your medications. If you have problems with scrupulosity, there are some excellent threads on that topic in the spirituality forum.

 

[TheLordsCanary]

The booklet’s main purpose was to warn you about the dangers of the medicine to unborn children, as you said, and included the methods of birth control and how they are used, and I was supposed to read it so I could “choose which one I wanted to use.” I must say, I was amazed at the awful things people will do to themselves not to have a child.

 

[mystified]

Recalling my “former life” as an Army medic, dealing heavily with families of the military, there were times and legitimate reasons for prescribing medicines that were use for “birth control”, but were useful in treating other problems, often in tandem with other prescriptions. Our Catholic Chaplain, a Dominican, said the use of these medicines for other purposes were acceptable, even if temporary contraception might be a side effect.

 

[DailyBread]

FYI:
Even though doctors make it out to be that one must be on some form of birth control to use accutane, the iPledge form (for using accutane) states women can avoid this for many reasons including:
• You commit to not having any sexual contact with a male at any time for
at least 1 month before, during, and 1 month after your last dose

So if you wish to, as long as you promise the above, then you would not have to use bc.
If you are married, it may be harder to follow for obvious reasons. I do not know what your status is in this case.
In reference to the other, bc could not be used in this case morally because its aim is not at alleviating a symptom of a medical condition, but solely to prevent pregnancy (unless of course you are not sexually active, though taking bc’s isnt the best thing on one’s body IMHO).

 

[1ke]

Recalling my “former life” as an Army medic, dealing heavily with families of the military, there were times and legitimate reasons for prescribing medicines that were use for “birth control”, but were useful in treating other problems, often in tandem with other prescriptions. Our Catholic Chaplain, a Dominican, said the use of these medicines for other purposes were acceptable, even if temporary contraception might be a side effect.

Yes, but in the caes of Accutane, the birth control pill is for contraception-- not for medicine. The Accutane is the medicine.

This is a distinctly different situation from when a doctor prescribes medicine that as a side effect makes you sterile.

 

[TheLordsCanary]

I don’t have to take the birth control. I was just wondering whether or not reading the booklet was a sin.

 

[stbruno]

No sin was committed. Rest assured.

 

[TheLordsCanary]

Thank you so much, I feel 100% reassured.

 

[Dan_Grelinger]

At its worst, reading the pamphlet could be considered an ‘occasion of sin’, which is not a sin. It is not inherently wrong to place oneself in the occasion of sin, as long as the benefits outweigh the risks. In your case, it appears clearly that the benefits outweighed the risks.

Dan

 

[ArdenB]

I had to read that book. It made me feel like a freak because it implies that sex is like eating- something everyone does and can’t live without. I hid it under my bed because my mom would faint if she found it and saw the how to put on a condom diagram.

 

[drafdog]

IF you read the product literature, and IF you decide NOT to follow the recommendations therein, and IF you get pregnant while on Accutane, and IF the infant has birth defects tracible to the medication, you CANNOT sue the manufacturer for damages, pain and suffering, medical costs related to the birth defects etc.
Such a suit would be deemed immoral by the Church.

Matthew