| Abstract: | Recent drug studies have investigated the incidence of bloodclots among patients using the Ortho Evra® birth controlpatch. In this article, the author describes an investigationof oestrogen levels in the body resulting from the applicationof the Ortho Evra® birth control patch versus daily useof Ortho-Cyclen® birth control pills. Prescribing informationprovided by the manufacturer and mathematical models from pharmacokineticsare used to investigate differences between the two birth controlmethods. Given the pharmacokinetic information on these drugs,applied calculus students are asked to recalculate the sizeof the patch so that the areas under the curves are equal. Theirfindings are compared to studies reported in the prescribinginformation produced by Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturersof these products. |
